Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers Paperback – April 8, 2003

Great investment classic. The one I love the most because it reads like a travel adventure with economics lessons sprinkled throughout the story. Jim and Tabitha go on a round the world motorcycle trip and Jim advises that people should open a foreign bank account to invest in a country's stock market although it is easier now since the book was written in 1990 to invest overseas without a bank account. A great business school lesson-and don't go to business school! warns Jim Rogers.

This book is amazing. Jim Rogers can really tell a story in an entertaining and informative way. On the surface, it's a millionaire's journey around the world on a BMW bike with his girlfriend, but the REAL significance of this tale is world history, the drama (and trauma) of African border crossings, fall of Soviet Union, and finding investment opportunities in third-world nations. This trip took place in early-90s, but he writes "Adventure Capitalist" in 2003 when he takes a similar trip in a souped-up one-off Mercedes, with equally great shenanigans. Then he writes "Street Smarts" in 2013 after he's settled in China with his family. Jim Rogers is my new favorite author.The book itself is in brand new condition. Paperback published in 1993, and given as a gift to someone in 2006 (who wrote his name on title page) but evidently never read it because the spine isn't broken and there are no dogeared pages. And I got it for 70 cents. Jim Roger's book "Hot Commodities" cost me only a penny. Amazon rocks!

Jim Rogers' recounting of his around the world motorcycle trip with his girlfriend "Tabitha" (I use quotation marks because I'm guessing that is not her actual name) is a great read. The author tells about most of the countries through which they traveled. His focus is on these key items:- Road conditions and interesting sites along the way (e.g., Great Wall, Sahara Desert, Trans-Siberian Railroad, Red Square, Congo River, Victoria Falls, etc.);- Investment climate in most countries;- World history and politics (his bachelor's degrees in these subjects - Yale and Oxford - are quite apparent and his tales are enlightening);- Motorcycle maintenance issues he and "Tabitha" encounter- A very healthy dose of his philosophy of economics: his distaste for socialist or communist (statist) governments and affection for market-based economies;- Many tales of the challenges of crossing international borders, especially in Asia, Africa, and South America;- Small amounts of insight into his relationship with "Tabitha." It is pretty clear to me that their relationship is sexual, but it is totally unclear to me if she is Paige Parker to whom he is currently married and who travels with him on a later, more extensive trip around the world (1999-2002);- The black market for all sorts of purposes, chiefly for currency exchange, but also for gasoline and other expendables.If you are catching my drift, I felt he tried to cover too much material. Clearly, he is a man of superior intellect, and I suspect he has a great deal to share and he doesn't feel inclined to hold back. The problem for me was just when I was focused on the road conditions in Siberia (or lack of roads), this theme does not carry forward. When you're biking around the world, road conditions would seem to be an imperative topic anywhere that they are problematic. But suddenly, he doesn't mention the roads for quite some time (distance) and you are learning about historic sites, war zones, "Tabitha's" pondering if she should continue the trip, or many other topics.I do recommend the book (purchased through Amazon--paperback), because I learned so much about so many varied topics. It is also a credit to Rogers that his economic predictions are often spot-on, even viewed with benefit of hindsight some twenty years after he wrote the book.

This is a great read, and interesting to review after 20+ years of history to determine whether Jim gets it right or wrong with some of his conclusions and recommendations. As an Australian, I found it interesting that he rode straight past (without mention) the world's largest iron ore province, I suppose because the price at the time barely covered extraction costs and China wasn't yet booming.His descriptions of many of his adventures don't make you wish you had been there with him, but all in all it is an informative and well narrated adventure story.I was fortunate enough to be able to launch straight into the sequel, Adventure Capitalist, for his updates on the experiences in this book. Generally, Jim writes easily and freely and at no point was there cause to nod off mid-page, and editing is excellent.