‘Amazing Adventures of a Nobody’s’ Leon Logothetis shares his travel tips

While a well-deserved vacation might seem out of many folks’ budgets right now, there is one guy who’s found a way to see the world on a fiver a day. Granted, it helps that he has a camera crew with him.

In Fox Reality’s “Amazing Adventures of a Nobody,” host Leon Logothetis treks across the globe with what amounts to lunch money, depending on the kindness of strangers to help him through.

We caught up with Logothetis before the show’s third season started in January.

Although these episodes follow his travels from Paris to Moscow in 28 days, he was off on another adventure when we spoke — a journey of 500 miles in five days on $5 a day in an attempt to get from Atlanta to Tampa, Fla., and score a free ticket to the Super Bowl (he was rooting for Arizona, by the way).

No rest for the wicked, Logothetis was enjoying a grilled Chik-fil-A sandwich with his new friends — three college guys who’d put him up for the night and were now driving him to Gainsville, Fla. One was even kind enough to let Logothetis use his cellphone during prime-time calling hours.

“The level of generosity in this country [is just fantastic],” says Logothetis, who’d also spent the night with a family of gun collectors in Macon, Ga., who thought it’d be fun to take the born-and-raised Londoner out hunting. “Don’t get me wrong, there are generous people all over the world, but … In the bigger [American] cities, it’s harder. But still, putting someone up in your house …”

Still, Logothetis says, nine out of 10 strangers he approaches for help will say no.

“I get a sixth sense for someone who’s gonna be helpful,” he says. “Obviously, my sixth sense isn’t very good. I try very hard to pick the right kind of people who like adventure.”

For those who don’t have the aid of a charming English accent and a ready-and-willing TV crew, Logothetis recommends scouring the Web for deals and checking out websites like Couchsurfing.com, which connects weary budget travelers with those willing to take in strangers for a night or two.

It also helps to get a bit creative.

“I spent a night in a police cell in North Wales [in one episode],” Logothetis says — a last resort after he couldn’t find proper lodging in the town. “I said ‘Either let me stay in the cell, or I’m gonna sleep in the street.’ They put me in a small room. There was no bed or air-conditioning. They gave me a police jacket to sleep on.”

– Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times staff writer

The third season of “Amazing Adventures of a Nobody” aired on Fox Reality earlier this year. It will air in more than 50 countries on the National Geographic Channel in April.

How did Leon fare with the Super Bowl tickets? Producers are turning the 500-mile journey into webisodes. Check www.leonlogothetis.com for details.

Or ask him yourself. He’ll be at the Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show, Saturday and Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. He’s participating in Daily Travel & Deal blogger Jen Leo’s panel discussion, ” Travel: I’ll Take Mine With a Twist” at 2 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. He may or may not need a ride home. Tickets to the show are $10 at the door and $8 online.

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[Photo: Shankly Productions]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:08 am by Whitney and is filed under California, Celebrity, Deals, Global, Los Angeles, News, Tips & Advice, Outdoors & Adventure, Travel Insider. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.