ODYSSEY
THE
ATHENS | DELPHI | HYDRA
A curated journey into
the future of Europe
by I KNOW SOMEONE & NEW NARRATIVE
From 24–29 September 2026, during the last full moon of the summer, we invite a small group of founders and decision-makers to the city that was named after the Goddess of strategy: Athens
THE ODYSSEY is designed for people who sense that the old strategic maps are no longer enough. Between ancient oracles and future thinkers, we create a temporary space for long-horizon strategy, cultural intelligence, and future imagination.
Part workshop, part collective reset, it is a unique format where we explore our methods together in a real-world setting. We can’t think of a better place to imagine the future than the place where Europe first learned to ask the right questions.
Can you?
-
For us, the Odyssey is not a story about adventure. It is one of Europe's earliest books on strategy. Odysseus does not return home because he is the strongest. He succeeds because he remains curious, adapts to changing circumstances, seeks wise counsel, and never loses sight of the horizon. We believe strategy works much the same way. Inspired by Homer's timeless narrative, we have designed The Odyssey as a series of carefully curated chapters rather than a fixed itinerary.
Together, we step beyond quarterly logic and immediate market pressure to ask larger questions: What becomes relevant over the next 100 years? What do you actually want to build? Which narratives are ending and which new realities are already emerging?
INVITATION
INVITATION
Thursday, 24 September
THE ARRIVAL
The first Greek word you’ll learn is Philoxenia— loosely translated as hospitality—but here, it means something far richer: the generosity of welcoming strangers as future friends.
Whether you'd like us to arrange every detail of your stay or simply meet us in Athens is entirely up to you. Through our concierge service, we can organise flights, accommodation, airport transfers and personal recommendations, allowing you to focus entirely on the experience ahead.
Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed at the airport and taken to your temporary home in Athens, where a carefully curated welcome package will be waiting for you, introducing the city, the programme, and a few of our favourite discoveries. Before dinner, you'll have a little time to settle in, slow down, and leave everyday life behind.
As the sun sets, we'll gather around a long table at one of our favorite restaurants. It's an evening designed for unhurried conversations, exceptional food, and getting to know the people you'll be sharing the next few days with.
Friday, 25 September
THE DEPARTURE
The ancient Greeks had one word to describe both art and technology: technē. They understood them not as separate disciplines, but as different expressions of the same human capacity—to imagine, create and shape the world.
Departing on our own Odyssey, we'll explore how that idea continues to live on in contemporary Athens. Throughout the day, we'll move across the city to meet the people quietly reimagining ancient concepts for the twenty-first century: the marketplace as a place of community, the gymnasium as a space for body and mind, hospitality as culture, food as memory, and the city itself as a living laboratory.
Together, we'll explore what deserves to be preserved, what should be reinvented, and how ancient ideas can become tomorrow's innovations.
Saturday, 26 September
THE HORIZON
Pronoia is the Greek idea of thinking ahead—of looking beyond what is immediately visible. On Saturday morning, we'll trade narrow streets for new perspectives on a private boat trip off the Riviera coast. Here, Athens reveals a different story, one shaped by the sea that connected Europe long before the continent had a name.
On board, we'll be joined by an architect and urban thinker. From the arrival of ancient seafarers to the charter of Athens by Le Corbusier, and now Ellinikon—Europe's Largest Urban Regeneration Project—we'll discuss how cities preserve their identity while continuously reinventing themselves. What should every future city learn from Athens? And which ancient ideas deserve another life? Between conversations, we'll anchor for a swim near the temple of Poseidon, share lunch on deck, and allow the slower rhythm of the sea to create space for reflection.
By late afternoon, we'll return to the city with fresh perspectives and perhaps a few better questions than the ones we left with. After some time to unwind at the hotel, we'll gather once more for dinner. And for everyone who isn't quite ready to call it a night, we'll continue the conversation as Athens comes alive beneath the last full moon of the summer.
Sunday, 27 September
THE ORACLE
Sunday is an invitation to diverge. For some, this is where the Odyssey comes to an end, while others will continue to travel with us to the oracle of Delphi, once considered the centre of the ancient world.
The two hour drive itself is part of the experience. As the landscape slowly changes—from olive groves to dramatic mountain scenery—the pace begins to slow down, making room for quieter conversations and reflection.
For more than a thousand years, people travelled to Delphi in search of answers. More often than not, they returned with better questions. After arriving, we'll settle into our hotel before heading out for an afternoon walk through the sanctuary and its surrounding landscape. In the evening, we'll gather once more for dinner, taking time to reflect on the journey so far.
Monday, 28 September
THE ISLAND
On Monday morning, after breakfast in Delphi, we'll make our way back to the coast. From the port of Piraeus, we'll board the ferry to Hydra, leaving the mainland behind as our Odyssey enters its final chapter.
Hydra has long attracted artists, writers, collectors and free thinkers from around the world. Free of cars and rich in history, and full of donkeys, the island moves at its own pace.
There, we'll catch the final days of Nari Ward's exhibition at the Deste Foundation's Project Space, meet collectors, swim, eat well, and leave enough room for the unexpected. There is no rush. No agenda. Just enough space for conversations to deepen and ideas to settle. Because some of the most important moments of every Odyssey are the ones that could never have been planned.
Tuesday, 29 September
Throughout Homer's Odyssey, Athena never sails the ship for Odysseus. She doesn't fight his battles. She appears whenever perspective is needed most. We believe strategy works much the same way. No meaningful journey truly ends when the itinerary does. Whether you return to Athens, continue exploring the islands or simply stay a little longer is entirely up to you. What matters is not where you go next, but what you take with you. New perspectives, new companions, and perhaps a different way of seeing the future. Because the true destination of every Odyssey was never a place. It was a different way of seeing the world.
THE RETURN
THE ODYSSEY is intentionally small. No conference atmosphere, no generic innovation vocabulary, no performative networking. Instead: Shared meals, real talk, deep thinking, and connections with people who we think should get to know each other.
Participants leave with new perspectives, unexpected alliances, and a clearer sense of direction for the decades ahead.
Applications are open for the next editions in September 2026 and May 2027.
Apply here.