Kindness One: The generosity of strangers around the world

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves -- finding themselves”

--Andre Gide

It’s quite humbling to think that I have already traveled from the fabled Hollywood sign in Los Angeles to the edge of Asia. Istanbul, Turkey, is a magnificent city, filled with culture and a thriving throb of humanity. I had reached this ancient city all on the kindness of strangers.

This Kindness One adventure is an around-the-world trip that is being funded by strangers I meet as I go. I am driving a 1978 Chang Jiang yellow motorcycle with a sidecar that’s been refitted with a BMW 750cc engine. Along the way, strangers have paid for gas, shelter and food.

My trip was closing in on the halfway stage and I had met some extraordinary people. There was Tony the homeless man who had put me up for the night in his little corner of Pittsburgh and given me clothes and food. Then there was the exceptional experience of spending the day on a true Nebraska farm and being welcomed into the family. And who could forget the African immigrants in Benin who were chasing their dream of inspiring the world through their music? They even put me up in their one-bedroom apartment in the leafy French city of Aix En Provence.

What this trip is showing me is that we are all one. That the negativity that we are bombarded by everyday in the news, although real, is not the fabric that so many people live their lives by. I have realized that the goodness of the human spirit far outweighs the negative aspects of life that seem to surround us. How else do you explain the level of generosity and kindness that one man has received on his journey across the globe. Lets never forget that we are here together.

Click on a point to read more about Logothetis’ journey. View larger map on latimes.com

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