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Oregon, USA – 23 December 2021 Adventure is in our DNA. Whether we own it or not, we are designed to experience life to the fullest, and there is much to gain from stepping into new horizons.<\/p>\n I grew up in a rural community 45 minutes from Portland, Oregon, on the west coast of the U.S. Endless fields, thick green woods and deep blue ponds were the universe for my friends and me. When we were bored, we\u2019d make up silly stunts on our bicycles to test, and overstep our agility\u2026 and luck. The sort of thing you look back on now and say, how am I still alive?<\/p>\n I was the test pilot for our bike ramps, when I\u2019d go airborne and (crash) land. And every time we found a new path in the woods, I took the lead. I suffered \u2013 proudly \u2013 bruises and scars that I still carry, marks of a childhood well lived.<\/p>\n By the time I reached university, my thirst for adventure and new experiences had evolved. To this day, my mother remembers each of the many foreign students I brought home at Christmas, from every continent. She had her favorites \u2013 including at least two she wanted me to marry. And she still reminds me of the ones who won\u2019t (ever) be invited back.<\/p>\n It was inevitable that my quest for the unknown, the exotic, and the mystical would lead me away from home. I started off with a trip to Victoria, in Canada\u2026 that whet my palate. Then I spent the summer of 1988 on a cultural exchange in Hong Kong and China.<\/p>\n After a month in Hong Kong, we were supposed to fly to Beijing. Instead, though, a few friends and I decided to take the train. I opted for the simplest and cheapest sleeper class, featuring an open compartment with three bunks stacked upon each other. There was no air conditioning. The windows were kept open to ventilate the sweaty and often cigarette smoke filled cabin, and for passengers to toss out garbage onto the tracks.<\/p>\n My bunk mates were my buddy Randy and an older couple taking their five-month-old grandson to Beijing. We shared simple meals of rice, eggs and veggies that we bought when we darted briefly onto the train platforms during stops along the way. We also shared 36 hours of vistas of a changing countryside and the great Yellow and Yangtze rivers as we plodded our way north to Beijing.<\/p>\n That was the beginning\u2026 and I was hooked. Fast forward 32 years, and my passion and quest for adventure have matured \u2013 but remain as strong.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll go anywhere and try anything at least once\u2026 and I\u2019m equally committed to finding something new in my favorite haunts. During a trip last month when I hopscotched through Kazakhstan, Romania, Ukraine and the UAE, I was just as excited to sip espresso at my favorite coffee shop on the planet \u2013 Lviv Chocolate in Kiev\u2019s Podil District \u2013 as I was to explore the cobbled streets and cafes of Bucharest\u2019s Old Town for the first time.<\/p>\n Admittedly, I\u2019m no longer a train cattle-car traveler\u2026 my expectations \u2013 requirements \u2013 for comfort and convenience have certainly changed. Which business class pod I occupy on my favorite airlines matters to me\u2026 as does ensuring that I have the best floor and view from my five-star hotel. Adventure Led Me to Obris By the time I attended my first Seraph event in Auckland, the group had already met up in nearly a dozen countries including Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Fiji.<\/p>\n Since then, we\u2019ve held events in 10 other cities, and we have a growing wish list of future locales for meet ups\u2026 from Dubai to Bucharest, to Kuala Lumpur, Miami and Andorra. Emerging, frontier or developed market, there\u2019s lots of scope for adventure.<\/p>\n This is Adventure I like this definition. It has the core ingredients of stepping into the unknown and willfully taking risks\u2026 though it does not have to be hazardous.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s add to the definition. We seldom step into the unknown simply for the sake of doing so\u2026 there\u2019s a method to our madness. And part of the excitement is the anticipation of what we will find in the unknown\u2026 and what we will learn.<\/p>\n Think of your past adventures\u2026 and the what-ifs. What if you hadn\u2019t taken that spur-of-the-moment right turn that led you to your new favorite restaurant, the cruise on the Pacific where you met your soulmate or the investment that became your first unicorn?<\/p>\n An Obris Definition<\/span> Some of us do in fact jump out of airplanes\u2026 while others are as enthralled to take a cruise down the Danube from Prague to Budapest, or to fly fish on the Mekong River in Vietnam. Some are happy just to come to our events.<\/p>\n And some are adventurers in training. I met Jon at our Obris Austin, Texas blockchain meetup in 2017. He told me that in addition to appreciating our approach to investing, he joined Obris because we ignited a latent flame inside of him.<\/p>\n Jon wanted to experience the world. He knew that we would be a great group of people to ease him into adventure. He was correct.<\/p>\n
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<\/span><\/b>The founders of Seraph, the company that Marvin and I acquired several years ago and reinvented as Obris, focused on frontier markets. Soon after they started Seraph, they hosted a gathering of more than two dozen subscribers in Mongolia, at the time a hot investment destination.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The Oxford Dictionary defines Adventure as:\u00a0<\/span>an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous experience or activity.<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/b>Before you jump to the conclusion that all Obris members are adrenaline junkies, I will add that we share the common traits of taking risks and exploring the unknown, but we apply these traits in different ways.<\/p>\n