Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Investor's Road Trip [Paperback]

Adventure Capitalist is a great adventure story. My primary criticism of the book is its brevity. He could easily have written three times as much and got the reader even more involved in the encounters along the way. Having written about my own transcontinental motorcycle adventures, I have learned that the most fascinating parts of the story to retell to others are the numerous encounters and interaction with locals along the way. While Rogers includes a lot of these, I cant help thinking there must have been so many more interesting encounters that I would have loved to read about, but that he did not include.

I think its also worth reminding those who find Rogers writing style opinionated and brusque, that as a guy who has done what he has done, re Investment Biker and now Adventure Capitalist, he has to be far more flexible and broad thinking that his writing style often portrays. You dont succeed in endeavours like this without being prepared to bend with the wind, be flexible and openminded. A stubborn person could never have done what he did. Total appreciation for the cultures and contexts through which he passed can be assumed, even though it does not always come through in his writing style.

As a fellow finance professional and a fellow adventurer, I find the book to be very much an adventure / travel book, (with the exception of the final chapter) embellished with his economic snapshot of the world circa 2000. Perhaps due to having a similar background in Finance, I find this book and Rogers previous book, to be two of the best adventure / travel books I have read.

Finally, the last chapter. This is the best chapter in the book and rounds up the whole adventure nicely. Rogers despairs over the lack of integrity in modern American life, both in Business and in Politics. Curiously, his old partner, George Soros, recently pulled his long running Open Society Institute from Russia, citing the need to encourage honesty, accountability and dissention in the US as being more pressing than it is in Russia. These two giants of the investment world may not speak to each other any more, but they still assess many things the same way.

In some thoughts earlier in the book Rogers states the obvious when he says if America really wants homeland security, then rather than tightening up on immigration and trade, they should try making fewer enemies. An obvious piece of advice, yet one which receives precious little airtime.

If you have any shred of "off the beaten track" adventure in you, you will enjoy or even love this book. Its one of those books that is compelling, and you end up reading it in 2 days.

Adventure Capitalist just doesn't compare well to Investment Biker. Rather than take motorcycles, Rogers and his new girlfriend (the girlfriend from the IB trip is gone) take a custom-built car and a spare (car), just in case. Right away, we can see that this is not going to be the impromptu, go-anywhere journey that Investment Biker was.

From almost skidding off the road in the rain just before they started their trip, to narrowly avoiding thieves in Africa when they had to sleep overnight in the car, the dangers often seem self-inflicted. After all, how can you cruise around in a fancy yellow sports car (with storage trailer and support staff) and not atttract attention?

I really can't blame Rogers for taking another trip, and what the heck, he's got the money, why not go first class? It's just that it doesn't make for an especially gripping book.