Leon Logothetis is a global adventurer, motivational speaker and philanthropist. He used to be a broker in the city of London, where he felt uninspired and chronically depressed. He gave it all up for a life on the road. This radical life change was inspired by the movie The Motorcycle Diaries. Leon has visited more than 100 countries and traveled to every continent. His show The Kindness Diaries is streaming on Netflix. His books, Amazing Adventures of a Nobody, The Kindness Diaries, and Live, Love, Explore: Discover the Way of the Traveler a Roadmap to the Life You Were Meant to Live published by Readers Digest, are available in bookstores everywhere.
How did you get started traveling?
I started traveling as an escape from a life behind my slab of wood (aka my desk), which was slowly draining my mojo of its life force. Day in day out. I was depressed, alone and was living my life without any real sense of direction. Travel was really my way to connect with others; it was actually the only way I had found to keep myself emotionally afloat during those dark times. I started forcing myself to travel just to feel the soothing medicine of human connection. To feel alive. When I look back, it’s clear that travel saved me. And it continues to be a way to recharge my soul.
How did you get started writing?
I have always been an avid reader. I loved storytelling and I didn’t know it at the time, but writing would be what I would choose to do with much of my life. I started keeping a journal every time I would go adventuring and I slowly started piecing together blogs and essays that would later become my books.
What do you consider your first “break” as a writer?
My first big break was a writing assignment for the Los Angeles Times. I was driving from London to Mongolia, participating in a mad adventure called the Mongol Rally. My assignment was to blog every day about my experience of the race, and the connections I made along the way. The job came with a price, as the year before I almost died attempting the same rally. It was a story written from a man seeking redemption. I was trying to find Internet every night to upload my drafts, cursing myself for taking the job and chasing a group of drunken lunatics all the way to Mongolia.
As a traveler and fact/story gatherer, what is your biggest challenge on the road?
The biggest challenge on the road is not getting caught up in the potential drudge of travel. The endless miles, refueling, eating dirty dinners, the truck stops. I’ve traveled to over 100 countries and this grind doesn’t really change. Farmland leads to suburbs leads to cities and it all starts again. And then it starts again. And again. You have to remember the profound beauty of travel lies in talking to others and being present in the mundane. In the moment.
Ultimately, connecting to people is the magic sauce, which makes the richness of our experiences eternal. We have to be willing to take chances and to engage with other human beings, because that’s the only way to break free from the repetition. And, even the repetition and the mundane is infused with magic, so we must pay attention.
What is your biggest challenge in the research and writing process?
The biggest challenge is trimming the fat. I’m lucky enough to have had great editors for my last books, but before that it was a challenge. Your stories are like your children — you don’t want to take any to the chopping block. You want to keep things that maybe feel special to you, though to others it doesn’t have the same deep meaning.
What is your biggest challenge from a business standpoint?
From the business standpoint the biggest challenge is getting other people to believe in what you’re doing. My brand is all about travel, kindness and connecting with others. A lot of my career I’ve heard “kindness doesn’t sell” or “you won’t survive in business if you’re kind”. But here I come, a British chap in the US, telling others that, that’s not true and I’ll show you!
Have you ever done other work to make ends meet?
My first real job was at McDonald’s, but that only lasted a week. I worked at a toy store, but was fired after 10 days (should I be admitting all this?). And my claim to fame is that after 2 days in a grocery store back home in London, I was unceremoniously asked to leave. You see, I was clearly not meant to work what one may call a “traditional” job. There’s nothing wrong with working behind a desk, or embarking on a 9-5 career, especially if you’re happy. It was just never for me. I needed to experience the world, its magic, its darkness, it’s beauty. Life in all its glory.
What travel authors or books might you recommend and/or have influenced you?
Into The Wild, On The Road, The Motorcycle Dairies, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Alchemist.
What advice and/or warnings would you give to someone who is considering going into travel writing?
My advice is to start as soon as you can. Even if you can’t afford to go far you can go to locations in your town you’ve never been to and write about your experiences.
Also. Practice, practice, practice.
If you aren’t writing you’re wasting precious time. Find your point of view early on but keep experimenting and stay open to new ideas. Share your heart with the world. Share your pain. Let people know who you are. I know this can at times seem rather difficult, and there are still parts of myself I keep to myself, but when we share, we invite love. Find a safe person to begin with and share with them what you have written and go from there.
What is the biggest reward of life as a travel writer?
The biggest reward is reliving my adventures. Sometimes when I’m doing the actual adventure it feels like I’m dreaming, like I was never really there. Writing gives me a chance to go back and figure out why the conversation with the Indian shop owner stuck with my or why that sunset made me feel so radiantly alive. It’s also a way to inspire others. When people write to me and mention how they read my books and it inspired them to travel it’s a wonderful feeling.
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