Leon Logothetis

Leon Logothetis
Born	February 3rd, 1977 London, England
Alma mater	Babson College, Boston Massachusetts
Occupation	Global Good-Will Igniter and Adventurer
Website	www.leonlogothetis.com

Leon Logothetis (born February 3, 1977) is a British born author, TV host, global adventurer, traveler, and inspirational speaker.

Logothetis' television appearances include, The Kindness Diaries (2015), National Geographic’s Amazing Adventures of a Nobody, The Meredith Viera show, The Pick-Me-Up Truck, MTV: MADE. Also, Web shows such as Ultimate Daycation and Adventures in Mongol Rally Land

Early life

Born in London England, of Greek descent, Logothetis now lives in Los Angeles California. He was educated in London and graduated from Babson College in Boston Massachusetts with a Business degree. After graduating college, Logothetis was a successful broker. But his real education started in the school of life—traveling the world. He had a radical life change after stumbling upon an inspirational movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, which chronicled the story of Che Guevara. On Che’s journey, he crossed South America relying solely on the kindness of strangers, and his story lit up Logothetis' mundane existence.^[1]

At this point, Logothetis felt disconnected and was leading an uninspired life.^[2] He felt his life had no purpose and no sense of direction, so he decided to do something about it.^[3]^[4]^[5] Tired of his disconnected life and uninspiring job, Logothetis left it all behind—job, money, home and even his cell phone—and hit the road with nothing but the clothes on his back and five dollars in his pocket. Each day of his journey helped him realized that the kind, good soul of mankind had not been lost.^[6]^[7]

Global Adventure Travels

Logothetis' inspiration of adventure to travel the globe, spread kindness, and connect with people face-to-face rather than with social media came from an internal desire. "All of my travels came from a place of pain and from a place of disconnection," says Logothetis. "The way I found how to connect with people was by doing these adventure travels around the world and by receiving and giving kindness."^[8]

His journey renewed his faith in the bonds that connect people worldwide. His next adventure led him on a quest to circumnavigate the globe on a vintage yellow motorbike relying again on the kindness of strangers. But this time with a twist. Logothetis found a way to give back in life changing ways to those who truly helped him and showed him kindness and generosity.^[9]^[10] As strangers showed Logothetis kindness, little did they know that it would result in a life-changing gift in return. One such gift was when he gave a riverboat driver in India the money he needed to send his two children to school.^[11] Another was to Tony, a homeless man from Pittsburgh that shared his blankets and food with Logothetis and offered to let Logothetis sleep with him in a dilapidated garage. Logothetis gave Tony the gift of a life off the streets and set him up in an apartment and paid for his continued education. Then there was the doctor who gave free eye surgeries to poor rural communities in Vietnam. Logothetis gave back by paying for 100 of the eye surgeries. As Tony, the homeless man told Logothetis, "True wealth is not what’s in our wallet; it’s what’s in our heart."^[12] "It was so inspiring, so humbling for me," Logothetis said."^[13]

Logothetis' adventures have taken him all over the world, often by unconventional means. In one instance, he purchased a 1985 London taxi, dubbing it the Kindness Cab, and drove it from New York to Los Angeles, doing good deeds along the way, like driving a veteran to receive cancer treatment and taking a family going through difficult times out for ice cream. At the end of his journey, Logothetis donated what would have been the fare he earned ($11,500) to charity.^[14]

On an adventure to circumnavigate the globe on a bright yellow motorcycle dubbed Kindness One with absolutely no money in his pockets and relying solely on the kindness of strangers, he left Los Angeles with no food, gas or money, but only with a mission to prove that kindness matters. His trip garnered international attention and resulted in appearances on Huffpost Live and Good Morning America, creating a social media frenzy.^[15]^[16] This inspiring adventure also helped to raise money and awareness for Make a Wish International.

His off-the-beaten-path travels have taken him to 90 countries including Peru, Bhutan, India, Oman, Haiti, Morocco, Jordan, Ecuador, Poland, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, and Mongolia, just to mention a few.

Television Shows

National Geographic Series: Amazing Adventures of a Nobody – Three seasons of adventure in which Logothetis crosses America, the United Kingdom and Europe on just 5 dollars, 5 pounds, and 5 Euros a day, respectively aired in more than 100 countries.^[17] The show followed Leon Logothetis, the presenter and creator, on his travels across America on just 5 dollars a day, starting in Times Square, New York and finishing at the Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles.^[18] The 5 dollars had to cover food, accommodation and travel. Logothetis had certain cities he had to pass through and was only ever allowed to stay for 24 hours in each city. The 5 dollars could not roll over and had to be spent. He was presented a new five dollar bill for each new day. The public could buy him things and he could work for goods, but he was never allowed to be given money directly.

Logothetis did a follow-up show across the U.K. on 5 pounds a day—the 5 pounds reflecting an average hourly wage, according to the Department of Trade and Industry in the U.K. A European version had Logothetis traveling from Paris, France all the way to Moscow, Russia on €5 a day was aired on Dave and was repeated on Blighty. Amazing Adventures of a Nobody has been shown on numerous Television Channels including Sky3, Sky Travel, Life One, Extreme Sports Channel & Fox Reality Channel.

The Meredith Vieira Show: The Pick-Me-Up Truck – A series of segments where Logothetis delivers hope and kindness to people in under privileged and impoverished communities and demonstrates his mission of giving back to those who give of themselves.

In the first segment, Logothetis delivers not only hope and the promise of a bright future—one pirouette at a time—but also delivers dance shoes, ballet skirts, leotards, tights and a check for $5,000 to Feltonville Dream Center dance school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The second segment has Logothetis delivering a $10,000 gift card from Staples for such things as computers—and much needed good cheer in the form of a field trip to an apple orchid—to the kindergarten students of The Mather Elementary, the oldest public elementary school in the nation (375 years old) just outside Boston Massachusetts.

Through the Pajama Program's mission—that every child goes to bed feeling safe and loved—and with more than a million kids in shelters on the waiting list, pajamas and books were delivered to Hour Children's Shelter in New York in the third segment. Logothetis delivered 500 pairs of pajamas, 200 books, 30 stuffed toys and a special visit from Clifford, the big red dog. For the moms in the shelters, pajamas and books are a great help. It allows the families to share a safe and cozy good-night that they've never had before. Most important, these gifts convey the gift of love.

MTV: MADE: Inspiring young adults to be independent through travel.

Web Shows

Ultimate Daycation – LA Times online travel blog, Wednesdays and Fridays for 10 weeks.

Adventures in Mongol Rally Land – An epic boredom crushing adventure of a 10,000 mile ride from London to Ulan Bator, Mongolia after which he donated one book for every mile driven to FirstBook.^[19]

References

External links

Leon Logothetis

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