However, I began to warm to Mr Rogers at about the time he hit Africa. His analysis of Africa's problems is well written and thought-provoking, his description of Saudi Arabia fascinating, and he tells us straight that India is a mess - no flowery romantic prose here. His account of the many visa and border-crossing problems is entertaining, though must have been supremely frustrating for him and his companions.

Inevitably for such a comprehensive journey, the coverage is extremely superficial in places: their time in Japan is covered in barely a page, and Madagascar rates only a short paragraph. We get little feel for what the author and friends actually did in each country, the people they met, or the accommodation they stayed in. And the author is completely silent on how he transported his vehicles from East Timor to Perth, a crossing that other travellers have found only possible by air.

You will not find the amiable travel style of Bill Bryson or Peter Moore within these pages, but if you want a whistlestop world tour from an off-duty financial analyst then this book is worth a try.

The book itself is extremely superficial, and has little to do with investing. Most of the material is about getting visas, crossing borders, bribing officials, eating foods you won't find at home, the local sexual tourism activities, the state of the buildings, whose picture he took with a Polaroid camera, and whether or not Mr. Rogers had to hire a military convoy. In most countries, he notes how wrong his opinions were on his last visit during Investment Biker. So why will he be right this time?

Where he does draw conclusions, there is little support for his findings. A major theme is the start of a new upward commodity price cycle upward. You'll look long and hard without finding any evidence to support that conclusion.

The most interesting parts come, however, where he draws the opposite conclusion from what you have heard reported. For instance, Mr. Rogers found religion to be freely practiced by all faiths throughout China. He says that tourism is better in Tanzania than in Kenya. He recommends avoiding the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. He reports well on the many ways that Americans annoy the rest of the world, and the harm done by nongovernmental organizations. The scams involving charity from the United States will also be an eye-opener.

This book will be most appealing to those who are considering driving through some of these countries. It's the only book I know of that provides realistic information about the road conditions and personal safety issues for such a large number of countries. You'll learn that it's best to drive a Mercedes because of the amazing string of dealerships that are described in the book (because all of the corrupt officials and most successful criminals around the world favor Mercedes-Benz automobiles).

For the most part, though, this is just a self-indulgent book about how a rich man uses his wealth and ingenuity to amuse himself.

If you want to read an intriguing book about investment-oriented travel, I recommend Investment Biker over this one.

After you finish the book, if you decide to read it, I suggest that you think about how you can help someone be a better investor. Who needs that help? What do they need to know? How can they learn those important facts?

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.

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.