Very, very addictive. I've been building at least one bike a year for the last 3-4 years. I really enjoy painting them, too.
The entire purchase>paint>build process takes a few months, but for me it's as enjoyable as riding the thing once it's complete.

I ordered the 268 and received something else yesterday. It looks like I got the fork and seat post for the 268 but the frame is something completely different. Anyone have any experience with this? It’s also painted which I didn’t order.

Looks like a gravel frame. They must have mixed your order up with someone else, and they got your frame. Have you reached out to velobuild?

I've set up Sensah groupsets with both 105 11 speed and Rival 22 front derailleurs. Both were an improvement and can be found for like $20.

As for Marino Bike, I have never purchased one, but a store in Japan called Gonzo Perfomance stocks a few.
All posts are in Japanese, but you can translate and read them if you like.

https://www.facebook.com/profile/100063713735356/search/?q=marino

Thanks for the info. Lots of Marino builds on there!

Anyone here own a Marino frame?
I just placed an order for a custom gravel frame. They're based out of Peru, so not exactly a Chiner, I know. But given their prices, I think it's worth talking about on here!
I've been looking for a gravel bike with more progressive/mtb-like geometry and having trouble finding something that matches my needs. I guess that's not entirely true as the Santa Cruz Stigmata is sick af, but the price of one most certainly isn't.
I've yet to receive confirmation with final price and build specs, but preliminary price for a custom Reynolds 853 gravel frame with all the bits and bobs I want/don't want is 665 USD. Judging by the website order form and his Instagram, the man can weld you up just about anything. Of course, I'll be painting it myself. Already working up some paint schemes.
Their house gravel frame looks pretty sweet for the price as well: https://www.marinobike.com/product/marino-gravel/
Would be great to hear any experiences y'all may have!

One final build update! 
I'm thinking this will be the last update. I've come to the realization that when I first built this bike, I didn't really know much about gravel geometry and what I built here is not a true "gravel" bike, at least not for the kind of riding I've grown to enjoy. What I created is essentially the sickest endurance bike of all time lol. The short wheelbase and more compact "allroad" geo make it a great bike for city riding on nasty surfaces, curb hopping, endurance rides, short fun rides, easy/flat gravel, etc... it can even fit 700x43 tires. It's truly a perfect do-it-all one bike solution. One of my favorite iterations of this bike is with 700x35 Gravelking slicks, a longer stem and my road shoes/pedals for riding on the road. Unfortunately, it's also good at eating a lil shit on rutty singletrack. Hence, I'm now in the search of something very different geomtry-wise. I still dig this bike and plan on keeping it around (with a different groupset) for its newfound allroad/endurance purpose, but what I really want is something with drop bars better suited for the rutty trails and technical offroad stuff I've come to enjoy.
Anyway, here she is in her current state. The latest upgrades include:
- Ryet carbon wheels
- Aliexpress Ingrid crankset with a genuine 44t Ingrid chainring
- GX AXS derailleur
- X01 cassette 10-50
- XX1 copper chain
- a fleet of Panaracer and WTB tires that I swap out depending on the ride 

I'm now in the search for a more "progressive" gravel frameset and I'm having trouble finding a carbon frame with my desired geo and specs, so this time around I think I'll be going for a steel frame with custom geo from Marino Bike this time (prices are reasonable af). https://www.marinobike.com/

https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3999.0.html

Adding another vote for a micro pump as they're amazing, but for the situation you describe I think this is a better travel option: www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805073801458.html?
I got one of these for christmas and find myself reaching for it very frequently...it's very fast, much faster than the micro pumps. Battery lasts forever. Definitely small enough to fit in your luggage. I bring it with me in the car if I'm riding somewhere away from home. This would be my go-to if I was traveling with my bike.