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What fun is a riskless adventure?

What fun is a riskless adventure?

April 18, 2023

What fun is a riskless adventure?

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This edition of my insights and inspiration update will be different. I took an adventure, and I’d like to tell you a bit about it and what I got from it. I’ll resume the more traditional updates next month, but hope this update will inspire you to take some risks and adventures.

Don’t leave life on the table.

Our Mezcal Expedition in Agave Fields in Mexico

March 29th, 2023, 4 hours drive from Oaxaca City, Mexico where no gringos have ever been.

The “Extreme Bourbon Trail” in Mexico

As an investor and board director of a new spirits company, I was invited on a once in a lifetime trip to “find mezcal.” I put it in quotes for a reason.

While the goal was to head out, find, and taste some of the finest and rarest mezcals, I didn’t take the trip to find mezcal. I set out with a friend and founder for an adventure. I needed an adventure to shake thing up in my life, to take a risk, and learn more about myself and the world. I needed an adventure to help me grow and think differently.

San Juan del Rio, Mexico, home of many palenques (mezcal distilleries)

It was an adventure, no doubt.

We were on the road 4-8 hours a day, 5 days in a row to visit 5 different producers. We travelled much of it on single-lane, dirt roads snaking through the mountains. Motion sickness meds were necessary. It was hot out — the AC not effective in the van.

Our hosts prepared feasts of clotted blood, liver nachos, crickets, stews of chicken organs, goat, rabbit, and more — all freshly made for the special occasion. We were first gringos to ever come visit. Yes. We had traveled deeper into mezcal country than most.

Sanitation in all its forms was wholly different and the food and non-distilled beverages carried with them all the health risks for the non-indoctrinated.

The cell phone service was non-existent. Just you, your squad, a cooler of water, and the mezcal trail.

For all aspects and actions of the journey, preparation and caution were needed to navigate without incident.

All the while, we sampled a lot of mezcal with the hope of finding some to import into the US. For us, these adventures are not just about finding fine spirits to import. We seek to share these spirits and their unique stories with the US and World — to bridge cultures and communities. There is purpose in all of our steps.

Me pictured with Alexis, the 26 year ancestral mezcal prodigy, who is a fifth generation maker of fine mezcal. He also happens to have a law degree and sings and plays guitar. His family highly values education as you can see in how proudly they display the graduations and diplomas of Alexis and his two sisters.

It wasn’t easy or without it risks but that’s the point of an adventure. Besides the memories, you walk away with much more than when you started.

With long hours on the road with no cell service, you learn a monk-like detachment to the challenges and strains as the adventure progresses. As the first gringos to visit these producers and have their families host us, you truly know and feel the kindness in humankind. It also reinforces other things that I’ve written about including knowing that self imposed limits need to be shed and that the real risk in life is not doing it. You remember that showing up in person matters for partners and friends, old and new.

Sunset in the Agave Fields

Furthermore, it reinforces what motivates me as entrepreneur, investor, and coach. I wake up to help others succeed and make new friends. I rise for the thrill of victory and also the lifting of others after defeat. I seek to discover the unknown with others, to build things better, to solve challenging problems, as well as to change people’s lives. All of these are the true rewards of a life well lived.