I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. The world has become so small, so borderless and so friendly during these last 9 years of travel, it just kinda seemed like a move was inevitable. Sure, moving out of the country I grew up in has it’s disadvantages (mostly being 10,000 miles away from my adorable little nieces and soon to arrive nephew), but “things” everywhere have become so familiar, it might as well be down the street.

We are moving here to help a friend with his company; a company I strongly believe in; a company that is changing its world as it changes the lives of its partners and employees.

It’s been quite the journey to get here. And I start today.

Finally.

Here’s to the start of career number two.

[caption id="attachment_1277" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="----A Palm Fruit----"][/caption]

It had to be a script from a movie. In one scene I was chatting with high-powered fund managers and Singapore “Wall Street” Executives, and in the next embarking on an Indonesia jungle speedboat ride through former headhunter territory, being chased by a massive storm surrounded by haunted, fog-covered islands that looked like they were meant to lie unexplored so as to protect humanity from the angry beasts within.

Such was my recent trip to Asia.

I arrived in Singapore at 1:30am Monday morning after flying for 2 straight days. Dead tired, I pulled myself out of the plane and walked out of the jet way. Sitting right outside of the gate was Dr. Suparno, a long time friend and soon to be new boss. We cleared immigration then made our way to his mother’s home, finally getting to bed at 3am.

A short four hours later we were up and ready for the “road show” – a series of meetings where we showcase the company to fund managers from a variety of different fund management companies.

We were going from one high rise skyscraper to …

Untitled from Matt Elsberry on Vimeo.

It’s been a great last two weeks on this, my first Crown trip as a volunteer. The leaders in these nations are bringing it.

[caption id="attachment_1269" align="aligncenter" width="325" caption="----Palm Fruit Bunch----"][/caption]

So my friend Matt Hall was out here last week for his Anesthesiology boards (yeah, he’s a doctor). Jokingly, he kept ribbing me about the company I was joining, asking if we let the kids in our sweat shops take breaks for water.

Haha, Matty.

Nonetheless, our humorous banter that day made me want to share a little more of the story. Let you know that we have no “sweat shops” and the dignity filled work we grant is helping a ton of people.

Because the company went public today, I can actually share more information.

Global Palm Resources Holdings Limited (visit our website) is now a publicly listed company on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). We were just able to raise S$46.5 million through our initial public offering (this is about $34 million in US Dollars).

We have around 2000 employees and another 1400 families that are given land through the Plasma Program. Find out more about this program and how we care for our employees here. The company is so well respected that over 80% of our employees have been there for 7 …

[caption id="attachment_1254" align="aligncenter" width="563" caption="----Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands----"][/caption]

So that’s it.

I’ve accepted the offer from Indonesia and starting in August I will be the Vice President of Sustainability and Stakeholder Relationships for my friend’s Indonesian company. We will be there for at least two years.

I can’t mention too much more about the organization until they finish the IPO process (I described it a little in my last post), but Rocio and I are thrilled to be embarking on this adventure together. And we are expecting many visitors. The island of Bali is right next door after all.

Last week Rocio and I were there, checking out housing and looking at potential jobs for her. We both feel like we have had special direction and insight from above, and we are excited to have to depend on each other in a new culture/country/continent/climate.

Change anyone?

Some pictures from Indonesia:

[caption id="attachment_1255" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="----A couple of the islands----"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1256" align="aligncenter" width="416" caption="----We saw a ton of these hats while we were on the rivers----"][/caption]…