Richard Hudson was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. From a young age, he suffered from bad asthma, spending much of his childhood in oxygen tents. At 15, one of his friends from asthma camp died, and it affected Richard greatly - causing him to constantly focus on what it meant to be without the meds without which he would be unable to survive. It was like an axe hanging over his head - it may never hurt him, but it may suddenly kill him.
Once newer medications came out, Richard began to be more active. He wanted to get into canoeing, but was steered to sailing instead. Since that point, Richard got into kayaking and sailing, sailing throughout the world. Richard has logged 3000 miles kayaking, mostly down the Mackenzie and Yukon rivers. Richard has worked all over the world doing various computer work, in between time spent on one of his sailboats, logging miles.
Eventually Richard came across a presentation about art, which interested him enough that he chose to explore speaking. Once he was introduced to Toastmasters, Richard progressed rapidly through the program, learning how to speak well in front of crowds. Now Richard offers presentations on his adventures and his travels through his website, issuma.com.