Bio

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Welcome to my site.

My name is Leo, but I write under my first two given names, Leo Anthony. I am the progeny of a Cypriot-Greek father and Anglo-Irish mother, both of whom were born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

I was born in the UK shortly before the conclusion of the Rhodesian Bush War. Once that had been realised I was whisked away to a newly independent nation, Zimbabwe, where I spent the better part of the next thirty years of my life. You can learn about my childhood in Zimbabwe and some memorable family holidays.

Since 2009 I have lived in several places in the UK, chief amongst them London, Luton and Bournemouth. I travelled widely in the years 2015 and 2016 to places as diverse as France, Turkey, Algeria and South Africa before settling down as a member of an intentional community on the south bank of the River Rhine near the Dutch town of Millingen-aan-de-Rijn with my family.

I now live in a shared house on the German side of the border, not far from the intentional community, but living a regular life as a tax-paying citizen! There have been one or two family adventures chronicled on this blog: staying in the Avalon Community in Italy and a visit to Northern Greece.

I have two self-published book, Between Two Worlds: The Life of a Jet-Setting Vagrant, (see below) and Revisiting South Africa. Both are based on my personal travel experiences.


You can find my eBook and paperback versions of these two titles on all major platforms by following either of these links (Previews available on Amazon product pages):

Amazon or
Other major online retailers

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Please feel free to peruse my posts and leave any feedback you feel inclined to share.

9 thoughts on “Bio”

  3. Naye Tennant

    Hello Leo. I am reading your posts here wondering and imagining you belong to Theo and Ethelwyn Passaportis’ family. My sisters and I had a club with Antoinette and Desiree in Gweru in the late 50s …

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    • Hello Nate. Yes, we Passaporti are all related! Theo was my grandfather’s brother. Older or younger, I’m not sure. So that made Desiree and Antoinette cousins to my father and perhaps aunts of one sort or another to me. I suppose you know that Antoinette passed away a few years back?

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  4. Hi Leo,

    I’m a Dutch journalist and I’ve been reading your blog with great interest. Could I ask you some questions about it? If so, where can I best reach out (email, phone?).

    Best,

    Ties

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  5. bgoodwin4815eb61f4

    Really interesting, thanks. Am currently involved with a team clearing invasives at GP reserve, there’s been a massive amount done in the last year or two. Do get in touch and come and look and get involved if you’re visiting Zim anytime soon. Cheers.

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    • Thank you bgoodwin! That’s very interesting to hear. Are you working with Roger Fairlie? I do have some very fond memories of that place and would love to receive some updates. Is there still a quarterly newsletter for instance? Perhaps you have a blog of your own? I would definitely be much more circumspect about using Roundup and the other herbicides I was encouraged to experiment with, but it was fun and I was lucky to have so much freedom.

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  6. Anonymous

    Funnily enough I came across your blog when googling Gerald Durrell and Zimbabwe Scouts. I too met Gerald and Lee Durrell. I contacted him (as he owned Jersey Zoo) when I was doing my World Conservation Badge at 2nd Borrowdale Cubs and then heard they were coming to Zim so invited them to plant a tree at the Scout Hut. Also had the pleasure of meeting the artist, David Shepherd whilst doing the badge

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