Leon Logothetis's Blog, page 27
October 27, 2011
The Little (Kindness) Cab that Could
The day started peacefully only to end with high drama. The highest kind when you are driving a vintage London Taxi across America. More on that later.
I revved the engines and began my journey in the nations capital. I was ready. So to it seemed were the good people of Washington DC. My first pick up was Tony, a 49-year-old homeless man. He hailed my cab on the streets close to the White house. His story was compelling and equally sad. He had lost his job and now found himself on the mean streets of the greatest capital of the world. His was a message was one of humility. Good luck T.
My next few rides included a chap who used to work in the White House and gave it all up for a life of adventure, a hedge fund manager, a pharmacy student and my favorite of all: a Bolivian soccer journalist!
I also took a motley bunch of characters on site seeing tours: 'Kindness Cab style'. The Washington Monument. The White House. The Capitol Building. The local Starbucks! In New York I was simply a cab driver. In Washington I was a tour guide as well. Magic.
Now lets shift gears. I promised you high drama. You wont be disappointed.
As I left Washington I fuelled up at a local gas station. Within 10 minutes the cab was spluttering along the highway unable to reach 30 miles an hour. Then, it stopped. It actually stopped. Again and again. It seemed that disaster had struck. My heart dropped. My cab looked at me and whispered "Why Leon, why did you do this to me?" I had no immediate answer.
My only explanation was that I must have inadvertently put faulty gas into the tank. The Kindness Cab was suffering. I was distraught. The cab was crying. The Kindness Tour was flailing. How could this be happening?
It was happening. And it was my responsibility to fix it.
I limped into a mechanics and found my angel. Bill was his name. I told him the mission of The Kindness Cab and he set to work. For free. He went under the hood tweaked the carborator and drained the car of the bad gas. The Kindness Cab looked at me and smiled. I sensed it was already feeling better. I walked over to a local gas station and bought 5 gallons of top grade fuel. Everything seemed good.
Sometimes, everything that seems good isn't.
The Kindness Cab continued to splutter. Things were looking bad. Bill suggested there were still remnants of the toxic fuel in the system and it would take a while to work itself out.
So we took a risk and in the dead of night we continued our long journey to Indianapolis. We are still driving. 'The little cab that could' refuses to stop. We will not stop. Kindness is coming to town.
For information on the whereabouts of the Kindness Cab and the chance to get a lift please visit: www.kindnesscab.com
October 26, 2011
New York Cabbie For a Day!
Driving the Kindness Cab in New York City was most certainly a unique experience. Thrilling. Surreal. At times frightening. I still can't believe that (technically) I was a New York cabbie for the day. Not sure how many people can say that with a straight face…
I started my shift at 8am and picked up my last customer at 9pm. By the end of it all I was exhausted. 13-hours in a vintage London taxi, driving the manic streets of Manhattan surely cannot be good for your health?
I drove uptown, downtown, midtown and everywhere in between. I drove and drove. And drove some more. Yet the day went by quickly. That's what happens when you are having fun.
I picked up 32 people. My daily take was $487. Since all the money goes to charity I cheekily added a few extras. Maybe a lot of extras! (Don't worry it all goes to a good cause (www.classwish.org/freebooks) and the money that is racked up on the meter doesn't come from 'my passengers' pockets. It comes from the proceeds of my book).
Back to the cab.
My passengers included: a dog walker, a TV crew, an investment banker, a florist, a rather eccentric but lovable photographer and a second hand car salesman. (He actually tried to buy my cab!)
For me, the real beauty of the day were all the smiles on peoples faces when they got into the cab. It seems that getting a freebie really does make you happy! But what I hope truly made there hearts sing with joy was experiencing something out of the ordinary. Something unique. Something designed to connect. That is what the Kindness cab is all about. Connecting people through the simple act of kindness. Simple. Powerful. Real.
Next stop Washington DC and The White House. Really.
Schedule of Kindness Cab pit stops can be found at: www.kindnesscab.com, additionally use #thekindnesscab on Twitter to reach me there.
October 24, 2011
The Kindness Cab is Coming to Town
FREE RIDES FOR ALL!
Monday October 24th is D-Day.
Not the June 6th 1944 kind. But the kind where people all over the country shout on their rooftops with anticipation and joy. The chorus will go something like this: "The Kindness Cab is coming! FREE CAB RIDES FOR ALL" People will be changed. Lives will be altered.
Kindness is coming to town.
Starting at Times Square I will be travelling across America in a vintage London cab winding my way ultimately to the Hollywood sign. Along the route I will be picking up anyone who wants a free cab ride. Or anyone who just wants to see the inside of a vintage 1985 London Sterling cab. You see my little cab has pillows, carpets, flowers and lots of room to chat.
The Kindness Cab really is coming to town.
Here is how it all began. A few years ago I crossed the country relying on the kindness of strangers and my life was forever altered. I connected with people and was inspired to change my life. A life that had been tethered to a desk (or my slab of wood as I like to call it) for 12 hour days, slaving away in a job that was sucking the life out of me. It was soul destroying. I needed to re-connect with humanity, and see the world whilst doing it. The idea was born to travel across America and put my faith in the open road and those that travelled it.
In return for all the kindness I received on my original journey I have always wanted to give back. The Kindness Cab is my small way of doing just that. It's my small way of inspiring someone to open their hearts a little and see, that what lies beneath is an ocean of possibilities. A deep ocean. An ocean where we all realize that we are deeply connected. We are one. We. Me. It's all the same.
During the trip the meter will be running and for every person I pick up their fare donated to local schools to buy books. You can enter your school or library in this book giveaway by going to www.classwish.org/freebooks
The Kindness Cab tour begins on Monday October 24th and ends on November 14th at the Hollywood Sign coinciding with the start of World Kindness week. My journey will take me across the vastness of America where I know I will meet interesting and inspiring characters. Characters that I hope will be inspired by the simplicity of The Kindness Cabs message: Be kind.
The Kindness Cab is coming to town. Will you be there to get the ride of a lifetime?
The Kindness cab hotline is sponsored by #TAXI (Poundtaxi.com)
#TAXI (PoundTaxi.com) is proud to sponsor The Kindness cab's hotline with a donation of 20 cents to www.classwish.org every time someone calls #TAXI #8294, anywhere in the United States between now and Nov 30th… "I wish everyone could ride with me in The Kindness Cab… but when you can't, you can always call our sponsor #TAXI and get a cab anywhere, anytime across America by calling #TAXI (#8294) on your mobile and generate a donation to our charity."
Leon Logothetis
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October 21, 2011
Book-A-Day Giveaway Winners (Week of 10/17)
[image error]This week's Book-A-Day giveaway winners are below! Enter everyday by posting the following message to your Facebook or Twitter:
@LeonLogothetis is giving away a book a day for 30 days! Simply share this link on Facebook or Twitter, http://amzn.to/nbjPE9, and you'll automatically be entered to win your very own copy of Amazing Adventures of a Nobody!
WINNERS*
Friday: Ron Panuccio
Thursday: Poul Brix
Wednesday: Linda Pursley
Tuesday: Latausha Pitchford
Monday: Claude Bouchard
Sunday: Eva Hamori
*Winners please e-mail me your mailing address by clicking here and I'll get a copy of the book out to you right away.
October 18, 2011
An unexpected and rather amazing adventure…
"The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one" - Erma Bombeck
It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to be slaving away behind a slab of wood. Wearing a suit. Making money. Being a serious adult. How on earth did I find myself in a motel room with a woman who thought the FBI was building a drugs factory under her house? Bloody hell! How could this have happened?
It did happen. I also know how it started.
I was trapped in a dead end job. Depressed. Lost. Frustrated. I was unimaginably fed up with myself and everyone else. Then it happened. Change happened. I watched the movie The Motorcycle Diaries and I experienced a dramatic shift in my life. It made me see what was staring me in the face. A life of adventure and connection was what I truly sought.
Not a life sitting behind a slab of wood.
The journey in the movie that Che Guevera took from Buenos Aires to Caracas had shifted something in my soul. About bloody time too! But what wasn't supposed to happen was being stuck in this motel room with cinnamon*
With my new-found freedom coursing through my veins I had decided to take a trip across America relying on the kindness of strangers. I wanted to put my corporate life behind me. I wanted to seek out people. I wanted change. What better way to do this than travel from Times Square to the Hollywood sign with $5 in my pocket and a lofty goal of finding myself.
I would have to rely entirely on strangers for food, accommodation and transport. Basically everything. I couldn't accept any money. Only acts of generosity.
So, back to Cinnamon. I had met her on the bus from Washington to Richmond and she was quite a character. Apart from believing that the FBI was building a drugs factory under her house she was convinced that she was being targeted for assassination. That her mother was a white witch.
She did very graciously offer to put me up for the night and that is how I ended up in a motel room with cinnamon.
The colorful stories don't end there. Oh no! She was but the beginning. My trip across America put me in contact with a wide array of crazy and interesting characters. It also put me right in the kind beating heart of the America I know and love so dearly. After all it was a wave of generosity that got me to my goal of reaching the Hollywood sign.
Here are some of those stories…
I stayed the night in a blood stained motel room. Faced down a couple of pimps in New York (well, if cowering behind a lamppost constitutes facing down…). Was nearly murdered by an Indianapolis drug dealer (ok, this maybe a slight exaggeration, but the police were called…)
Along with these wild stories I received kindness on an epic scale. A lady in Chicago gave me the keys to her home when she wasn't even going to be there. "Just leave the keys in the flowerpot" she said. I found my way to a small leafy town in Illinois called Galesburg where they raised over $100 to buy me a train ticket to Denver.
In addition to the astonishing acts of kindness, I met a sprinkling of some of Americas finest. A highlight being my friend Gene: who was a former navy officer present at the zenith of the Cuban missile blockade.
People from all walks of life helped to make my trip across America a life changing and defining moment in this mans life. Ever since I completed that journey I have wanted to give back. I wanted to repay the kindness and generosity showed to me by perfect strangers. A kindness and generosity that helped inspire this Englishman to live fully.
To celebrate the launch of my book, Amazing Adventures of a Nobody, I will be retracing my steps from Times Square back to the Hollywood sign. This time it is I who will be offering kindness. I am driving a vintage London cab for charity and giving people free rides along the way.
Hopefully I will bump into Cinnamon…
*Not her real name. She insisted on going by this code name
October 14, 2011
Amazing Adventures of a Nobody by Leon Logothetis – IN STORES NOW!
My New Book, Amazing Adventures of a Nobody, is IN STORES NOW!
A life changing journey across America relying on the kindness of strangers.
"A gem of a book: endearing, engaging and inspiring!" -Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times, travel editor
"Amazing Adventures of a Nobody… An amazing read from an amazing and truly inspiring guy!" -Christy Cahela, Executive Producer & Co-Host, DayBreak USA
