THE KITE
OF DREAMS
How far are we willing to go when the dream we carry belongs to someone else?
FEATURED BOOK_LATEST PROJECT_2026
The Kite of Dreams
The story of dreams that reached the summit of Everest
THE BOOK
It’s more than the story of a climb.
On the eve of his departure for Nepal, Leonardo looks out over his hometown from his balcony and reflects on the life that has led him to Everest: family, photography, fear, the desire to explore, and the responsibility of telling stories.
Ten years after his first journey to Palestine, alongside Jordanian-Palestinian mountaineer Mostafa Salameh, he carries a kite fashioned from a Palestinian flag towards the summit, entrusting it with the handwritten dreams of Gaza’s children.
A story about Everest, but above all, about what it means to carry someone else’s dream.
THE PROTAGONIST OF THE BOOK
The story of
The Kite of Dreams.
Every great journey begins with a spark of inspiration. Mine came on the balcony of my home.
Hanging there was a Palestinian flag that my friend Mana, from Gaza, had given me years earlier. That flag had already reached the summits of Aconcagua in 2023 and Lobuche Peak in 2025. To me, it represented far more than a symbol: it was my connection to a friend and an expression of my support for the Palestinian people’s right to live freely on their own land.
When the Rising Dreams project began, we were looking for a way to carry the dreams of Gaza’s children to Everest. Looking at that flag, I imagined it becoming a kite.
Together with my friend Cosimo, we designed a lightweight frame that could be dismantled and withstand high-altitude conditions. My mother, Dina, then sewed the flag by hand, bringing that idea to life.
On the trek to Everest Base Camp, the kite began to tell its own story. The first message was written by a monk at the monastery in Namche Bazaar: “Tashi Delek”, a wish for peace and prosperity, accompanied by a blessing with sacred butter, whose mark is still visible on the fabric today.
Then came the dreams of Gaza’s children. Doctors, teachers, artists, engineers, footballers. Simple yet extraordinary words, written by children who continue to imagine a future despite the war.
At almost nine thousand metres above sea level, I assembled that kite and let it fly above the roof of the world. In that moment, I understood that the most meaningful ideas are always born of love: the love of a friend, of a mother, and of children who refuse to stop dreaming.
Everest does not mark the end of its journey. The Kite of Dreams will continue to fly on the highest mountains of the seven continents, carrying new dreams and reminding the world that no war can ever erase a child’s imagination.
Alongside the dreams of Gaza’s children, I also asked my friends and those close to me to share their dreams so I could carry them to the summit. One by one, they responded, entrusting me with their words, wishes, and personal visions of the future. Among them was a poem written by a dear friend, which appears in the following pages of this book.
ABSTRACT \ SYNOPSIS
The most important summit is not the one we conquer, but the one that brings us together.
A memoir of adventure, transformation, and the power of dreams, from the streets of Gaza to the summit of Everest.
On the eve of his departure for Nepal, Leonardo Avezzano stands on the balcony of his home in San Severo, southern Italy. Looking out over the town that shaped him, he embarks on a journey through memory—through childhood, family, fears, ambitions, and the invisible forces that have brought him to this precise moment.
The Kite of Dreams is more than an account of an Everest expedition. It is the story of a life leading towards a mountain.
Born in a small town in Puglia, Leonardo grows up between the traditions of southern Italy and the call of distant horizons. His father introduces him to the magic of photography, his mother gives him his first taste of adventure on mountain hikes, and his younger brother, Umberto, becomes his first companion and teacher of courage. When illness suddenly strikes their family, the innocence of childhood gives way to a profound fear of losing the people he loves and a determination to become independent.
Following an unconventional path, Leonardo leaves southern Italy to study marketing and discovers creativity in the most unexpected places. An Erasmus exchange in Portugal opens the door to art, photography, music, and storytelling. His subsequent corporate career takes him from small Italian businesses to international innovation projects, including the creation and growth of Philips Hue, one of the most successful consumer technology ventures of its time.
Yet alongside his professional success, another calling persists: exploration. Inspired by adventurers and storytellers such as Walter Bonatti, Leonardo begins searching for a different way to understand the world. His journeys take him across deserts, glaciers, mountains, and cultures, transforming adventure from a personal challenge into a means of connection and storytelling.
In 2016, a journey to Palestine marks a turning point. Carrying an analogue camera, Leonardo looks beyond media narratives, seeking the human stories hidden behind political conflict. That experience changes his understanding of the responsibility of storytelling—not as a means of imposing answers, but as a way to listen, bear witness, and preserve memory.
Years later, this philosophy becomes the foundation of The Kite of Dreams expedition.
Together with Mostafa Salameh, the first Jordanian-Palestinian mountaineer to summit Everest and one of the few people in the world to have completed the Explorers Grand Slam, Leonardo creates a symbolic mission: to carry the handwritten dreams of Gaza’s children to the summit of Everest.
Their message is entrusted to a simple yet powerful object: a kite fashioned from a Palestinian flag, a symbol of childhood, freedom, and hope. The plan seems clear: Mostafa will carry the kite to the roof of the world, and Leonardo will document the endeavour with his camera. But the mountain has its own rules. Illness and a series of unforeseen difficulties force the expedition to change course. The man who was meant to take the leading role cannot complete the ascent.
At that moment, the meaning of the expedition changes. The kite itself becomes the protagonist. Leonardo and Mostafa become messengers, carrying voices that belong not to them, but to children whose dreams deserve to be seen and heard.
On 21 May 2026, at 10:48 a.m. local time, the Kite of Dreams reaches the summit of Everest.
But the summit does not mark the end of the journey.
The expedition’s true message is that dreams are not defined by borders, circumstances, or the obstacles placed before us. They survive because someone chooses to carry them.
After Everest, Leonardo and Mostafa decide that the Kite of Dreams must continue its journey, with the hope of one day returning it to Gaza and taking it to the highest summit on every continent. Their goal is not to conquer mountains, but to spread a message of hope, resilience, and the shared humanity that unites us all.
Written with the intimacy of a memoir and the pace of an adventure story, The Kite of Dreams weaves together family history, personal transformation, exploration, photography, and humanitarian storytelling. It follows a man who spent years searching for the summit he thought he wanted, only to discover that the most meaningful ascent was the one that connected him to others.
A story about Everest, but above all, about what it means to carry someone else’s dream.
FEATURED BOOK_LATEST PROJECT_2026
The Kite of Dreams
The story of dreams that reached the summit of Everest
PRESENTAZIONE IN ANTEPRIMA DEL LIBRO
Il viaggio è partito da qui. Qui comincia anche il libro.
Thoughtfully crafted to elevate what matters most.
La prima presentazione de L’Aquilone dei Sogni sarà a San Severo, la città da cui Leonardo è partito prima di raggiungere la vetta dell’Everest.
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