In the beginning… 07.09.08
We’re often asked how Karl Ivan began. Well here’s the story…
A Swedish native, Alex Ekberg, and Canadian native, Ryan Brady, are the two founders of Karl Ivan. Alex and Ryan met in Hong Kong as exchange students, both not quite sure what to expect of Asia. Captivated by the energy and hustle and bustle of it all, it was not long before they set-off to explore more of this foreign land. First stop: Thailand.
The trip to South-East Asia was incredible. The group which consisted of a variety of wide-eyed foreigners arrived in Bangkok and then traveled to the exotic beach of Sihanoukville, Cambodia via a variety of painstaking transportation methods including a 12 hour school bus ride on unpaved dirt roads and being burnt to a crisp on the top of a 5 hour jet-boat down the Mekong River.
Ryan and Alex continued to travel to Thailand every year thereafter as part of an annual ritual. It was in the airport lobby of Bangkok a couple of years later, waiting for a delayed flight and watching cargo containers being loaded, that the two brainstormed the concept of Karl Ivan.
Ryan and Alex in Angkor Wat, Cambodia
