Living in San Diego makes it easy and enjoyable to be active and spend the day outdoors. Sports particularly are a great way to do so and bring people together. San Diego State graduate Matt Doran started Advntur around this idea.
Launched in January 2015, Advntur is a network connecting sports lovers from all across the world to travel and play together.
Doran earned a master’s degree in creative writing at SDSU in 2012. He delved into his favorite sport as the captain of the San Diego Rowing Club, where his team competed in many different races around the country and sometimes around the world. The experience is one of the many inspirations for Advntur.
“Being a rower, it’s hard for me to play my sport when I travel because I can’t exactly bring a 30-foot boat on a plane with me,” he said.
With Advntur, Doran and other rowers can conveniently leave behind their boat, oars and other equipment at home.
“Now I can go connect with someone who can give me the stuff I need and show me good places to go, giving me the travel experience that’s on my terms,” he said.
Doran’s rowing team traveled to Victoria, Canada, in 2011 for the National Rowing Championships, where they had an amazing experience staying in local rowers’ homes.
“They view the world in the same lens as I do,” he said. “For example, when a surfer here in San Diego connects with a surfer in Australia, there are cultural differences we can learn from each other, giving each other a much richer travel experience.”
Sports enthusiasts can sign up for their adventure on Advntur’s website. The company currently has 12 sports, including rowing, surfing, golfing, cycling and running. Athletes simply create their own profile and can choose to be a guest (“explorer”) or a host (“native”).
Hosts have three options to provide their guests: lodging, gear and guide.
They can choose to provide all three or just one. Hosts and explorers can message each other and communicate about sports, travel dates or equipment before sharing an adventure.
Take a host for surfing in San Diego as an example.
“For $20 a day, you can borrow my surfboard and for $15 a day, I’ll go out surfing with you,” Doran said. “So for $35, we can go out surfing together, I can show you where all of the good breaks are and I can take you to a good locals only surf spot.”
Criminal justice senior Matt Thornton is passionate about surfing. Aside from breaking waves in San Diego, he has surfed his way through Bali, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.
“What made these experiences even better is the awesome people I met along the way,” Thornton said. “It was very cool to meet new friends of different cultures and create unforgettable memories surfing and exploring together.”
Advntur provides a way for people to do what they love and connect with others, whether they are traveling or playing sports on their own time.
“It is a greater opportunity for friendship to blossom and for people to bond over their shared love of sports,” Doran said.
As Aztecs and Californians, many are already going out to enjoy the beaches and beautiful weather. Doran previously taught in the rhetoric and writing studies department at SDSU and knows how active Aztecs are.
“Everyone used to come to class in sweatpants and sweatshirts and they were always out doing something,” he said.
The sports network creates the opportunity for SDSU students or recent graduates to get paid while adventuring in their local community.
Doran is making Advntur active in Southern California, where he hopes to build an Advntur community before prospering in other cities around the globe.
