Leon

A German travel creator (@leonfromgermany) credited in the description and travelling with Harry across southern Russia — the 18-hour train from Moscow, Volgograd, and the hitchhike to Elista. They met in North Korea.

He is a co-presenter rather than a companion: the conversation between the two of them carries most of the runtime, and he is also the trip’s premise. Harry says outright that he brought a German to Stalingrad on purpose, to stand him in the place where the German army was encircled and beaten — delivered as a running joke about a parallel universe where everyone speaks German, and underneath it as the reason the video exists.

Harry gives his count as over 160 countries, which he reports produced no reaction at all from the Russian passenger they told.

The most useful thing he contributes is comparative. Asked about German trains against the 18-hour Russian one, his answer is that they’re expensive, and that the fact people still remember one cheap summer rail card tells you what you need to know about the pricing. He is also the one who names what makes Russia worth the effort: when a conversation with a stranger here finally starts, you feel you’ve accomplished something, because it isn’t easy.

Appears in

• Entering the Side of Russia You Don’t Ever See 🇷🇺 — the train, Volgograd, and the hitchhike south.
• I Traveled to the Russian Republic No Tourists Visit 🇷🇺 — in Elista, where he supplies the line Harry ends on: never confuse politics with people.
• I Went to the Most Feared Place in Russia - Chechnya 🇷🇺 — the drive into the Caucasus and the day in Grozny.