Kindness One: A chance meeting reaffirms a traveler’s faith

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be
-- Voltaire

As I was trying to find a free place to stay at a hostel in Zagreb, Croatia, and had just been unceremoniously rejected, I trudged out to the courtyard and heard a familiar accent.

A Scotsman popped his head out a side door, and we started a chat. Like me, he was on a mission. My mission: Circle the globe in a bright-yellow motorcycle, dubbed Kindness One, and prove that people are basically good and will help. His mission: a four-year trek across the world by bicycle. He had sold all his possessions, quit his job and gone in search of personal freedom, which was his holy grail.

He was four weeks into his journey. As we chatted he said of his old life, “I realized I was trying to make money to buy my freedom.” He was already learning that freedom was gained through connecting with people.

All this sounded familiar. His decision to leave everything behind mirrored my story (I left a job at a London brokerage house to see the world), but this chap was taking it to the next level. Four years on the road takes a dedication to finding your truth, which pales against most of our attempts at self-discovery.

When you meet such a man, listen to his wisdom. When you meet such a man you cannot help but be inspired by his message. When you meet such a man, you change.

A man who walks the walk and talks the talk is rare. He touches lives. Fraser’s dream is to show us that money is not what buys you freedom; it is by living fully that we are connected to the freedom that’s already within us. Although Fraser and I met for only a short time, his journey touched my heart.

Click on a point to read more about Logothetis’ journey. View larger map on latimes.comYou can connect with Fraser on his blog.

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