Mad Dog Voyager is a CR Yachts 400DS sailboat

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Personal page crew member: Leo (aka "Hawk")
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Hello and welcome to my personal pages

Something about me
Nationality: Born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Holland)
Home town of the soccer team Feyenoord
Current nationality: Canadian

I am Leo. An adventurer, entrepreneur, philosopher, self proclaimed musicoholic, creative designer.
The Mad Dogs
 I was born and raised in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, home to one of the busiest shipping ports in the world. Even as a child, I was always ready to buck the trend. If I wanted to do something or had an idea, often times adults said, “That’s not the way it’s done” or “Nobody does it like that”. I questioned this “wisdom” and said “Why not?”. To this very day, when someone says to me “That’s not how it’s done” or “It’s never been done that way” I still say “Why not?” and follow my instincts.

This axiom and belief has carried me forward to where I am today. Living a dream, travelling on my sailboat, “retired” from the rat race. I was never one for following trends and walking in line with the lemmings. As Frank Sinatra said “I did it my way”.

Why do you call yourself a philosopher?
I love to watch and study people. Not what they wear, what the buy, what they drive, but the actual people behind the façade. This is the basis for anyone interested in people, their actions, what they do and why. The Dreamers, the Do’ers, the Backstabbers, the Weasels…
Feyenoord is my home team soccer club
People, both old and young, need to stop worshipping and idolizing movie stars, musicians & sports figures and start idolizing the people that make a difference. It is the people that are around us, the people that have accomplished something, the neighbor that volunteers - these are the people we should be role-modeling.

I look around me at people and wonder where humankind has gone wrong. We have more conveniences than ever, incredible knowledge at our fingertips, the ability to travel and explore the other side of our planet at the drop of a hat, yet we are negative and miserable. News stories tell of the negative, radio tells of the negative, your neighbor repeats the negative. This is a dangerous, self fulfilling trend that has to stop!

How many people actually get out to be with friends and meet new people? They sit inside behind their computer, Facebooking, Twittering, emailing - always hidden behind a screen, never having to “deal” with another person face-to-face. Don’t be afraid of what you do in public, Life has no “Undo” - you don’t need it.

What do you do on the boat?
I love to create and design. Much of my creative talent is used designing and creating on the computer. It is unfortunate that a tool as incredible and powerful as a computer is often a source of aggravation. Whether it is a(nother) Windows 7 glitch or a completely unintuitive workflow pattern in an Adobe product these things are aggravating and impact creative potential. However as humans we are more resilient than machines. I get over these irritations and begin to let the creative juices flow, sometimes spending hours on a single design until it has reached my acceptable level of perfection. That’s just me!
 

Where does all your music come from?
As a musicoholic I love music. From the time I wake up until I go to bed, I need to have music playing. Most of my personal music collection has been digitized and is onboard the sailboat. At last count I have over 18,000 music tracks on my computer! As for the trends of music, I find that this too is loosing the individuality that is affecting people on their computers. I love music from all parts of the world and think the greatest travesty of music in North America is the need to Pigeon-hole the music. This is Country - you can only play it on a Country station. This is rock - you can only play it on a Rock station. This is Easy Jazz - you can only play that on an Easy Jazz station. This is totally wrong. Music should be mixed. Music should play with your emotions. Let the music lift your emotion, raise your blood pressure, build to a crescendo and then start to let you down slowly. Ease things off, slow it down, relax -- and then start all over again. In my teen years I used to create mixed music collections on reel to reel for business and bars. Using the music, I would slowly build it up all night until it reached the peak and, as things were winding down and patrons starting to leave, the music has also slowed down.

This is what music should do. Music needs to be individual, Music needs to be fresh, it needs to have a life and existence of it’s own - not drone on from one song to the next!

Need a Mad Dog stamp?How did you get where you are?
Being entrepreneurial and opportunistic from a young age has served me well. I always look to see what somebody else missed. A niche that isn’t being serviced. A market that has room for expansion. These are the things I look for and, following my instincts, I know what to jump on and when. All of my companies to date and into the future provide real services, honest information, no fine print - actually treating people like I want to be treated.

Travelling on the sailboat has been one of the most rewarding things in my life. I love going to different places, meeting new people, having new experiences, broadening my horizons. The trip to Alaska has taken longer than expected, but with such beauty I can’t just rush through. I like to visit new places and explore them to the fullest. For me, travelling is not about going somewhere, snapping a few photos and name-dropping on the website - it’s about embracing what I see and getting the most out of it. The photos capture only the visual portion of any experience. It is being in that spot, at that time that makes it complete. I tell people “Don’t live through images on your computer screen, open the front door, walk outside and live through yourself!”

Do you have any advice on life?
I have tried to inspire people to do what I’ve done. Get off the couch, Go out, Explore, Live. In the book I am writing “Lemmings 101”, I talk about life and living and how the two fit hand in hand. Forget the templates of life, the big screen TV, the brand name clothing, the new car every two years, the “new” thing at Costco that every has to have. Be unique and individual.

That is it.
We are not couch potatoes.
We are not whiners.
We do not blame anyone else for our situation

I am living my dreams.
I am “Exploring to inspire…”
I am a Mad Dog

Go out and explore!!

 

How do we pay our bills? Follow link to find out more

My hobbies:
Marketing, Graphics, Photography, Diving, Sailing, Music & Exploring Nature,
                    
Photo restoration (incl slides & negatives)


Some of my favorite photos:

1. Follow this link to view my favorite photos
2. Photos of me and Dean in the Rocky Mountains in various winter seasons
3. The photos of various vehicles I've owned through the years

Note: All photos on the above pages were taken by myself in various locations throughout the world
          and in various years

My favorite music on our iPod
Top 100 "favorite" songs on our iPod player
Top 50 of my "Easy listening" selection on our iPod player



 
Quote: The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins. - Bob Moawad -

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