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The Adventure Capitalist: Camels, Carpets and Coffee: How Face-To-Face Trade Is the New Economics
This text offers an exciting insight into the human story behind the money in our pockets, and reminds us that making a living is about exactly that - living.
246 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2009
6 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Conor Woodman
11 books22 followersConor has been a producer/reporter/presenter in factual television for many years (Scam City, Around the World in 80 Trades, Watchdog) and has written several books.
His latest book CALL TO KILL is his first novel, written with co-author Billy Billingham, star of C4's SAS : Who Dares Wins.
Prior to Call to Kill, Conor wrote The Adventure Capitalist (Pan Macmillan), which tells the story of how he left his job in the City, sold his London flat and embarked on a round-the-world trading adventure. Travelling through four continents over five months, he turned his hand to making a profit out of everything from camels in Sudan to inflatable surfboards in Mexico, to discover how real people make real money in real markets.
Conor's second book Unfair Trade deals with how ordinary people around the world survive at the bottom of the supply chain. By living alongside miners, farmers, factory workers and fishermen from Africa to Asia to Central America, Conor tells the stories of the real people on whom the global economy depends. Unfair Trade was long listed for the Orwell Prize.
His third book, The Scam Hunter takes us on a journey through the lawless backstreets of cities such as Mumbai, Bogota, New Orleans, Mexico City and Jerusalem as he uncovers the people and the crimes that keep the global black economy moving.
When not writing, Conor continues to make films and TV. True Appaloosa, his first feature length documentary film, premiered at the Sun Valley Film Festival in 2015 and aired on BBC4 as 'The Secret Horse’ to wide critical acclaim.
His latest book CALL TO KILL is his first novel, written with co-author Billy Billingham, star of C4's SAS : Who Dares Wins.
Prior to Call to Kill, Conor wrote The Adventure Capitalist (Pan Macmillan), which tells the story of how he left his job in the City, sold his London flat and embarked on a round-the-world trading adventure. Travelling through four continents over five months, he turned his hand to making a profit out of everything from camels in Sudan to inflatable surfboards in Mexico, to discover how real people make real money in real markets.
Conor's second book Unfair Trade deals with how ordinary people around the world survive at the bottom of the supply chain. By living alongside miners, farmers, factory workers and fishermen from Africa to Asia to Central America, Conor tells the stories of the real people on whom the global economy depends. Unfair Trade was long listed for the Orwell Prize.
His third book, The Scam Hunter takes us on a journey through the lawless backstreets of cities such as Mumbai, Bogota, New Orleans, Mexico City and Jerusalem as he uncovers the people and the crimes that keep the global black economy moving.
When not writing, Conor continues to make films and TV. True Appaloosa, his first feature length documentary film, premiered at the Sun Valley Film Festival in 2015 and aired on BBC4 as 'The Secret Horse’ to wide critical acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 24, 2015
Part travel log, part old-school economic practice, this light book made me feel as if I was with the author on a reality TV programme involving an Amazing Race style adventure mixed with Dragon's Den and The Apprentice tasks.
I liked it that some of the locations he picked were locales that I'd probably not visit or otherwise wouldn't know a thing of, and he included the trading bit without dumping too much technicalities or the more mundane red tape stuff. True, by the end of it, as a reader I can't say that I'm able to embark on a trading adventure, but I did get a glimpse of how trading works, even at a superficial level, and he made it seem fun.
Mr Woodman and Mr Sayeed. Photos included in the book such as this one made the read even more enjoyable. Edit: Woot, Mr Woodman has his own TV show on Ch4!
His exploits in trading coffee in particular reminded me of my own recent experience buying the indigenous produce of villagers in a remote area of Flores. I'd bought coffee beans directly from village farmers as souvenirs (and because they tasted great) and now that I think of it, those beans aren't as cheap as I thought they were and in fact even at the first trading point I was already on the short end of the bargain (although in this case I was happy to oblige since the experience in that village was amazing). One thing's for sure, I'll always think of the insane profits coffee retailers are making and will think twice when I'm ordering a cup at Starbucks.
More importantly, the flashes of candour and humour thrown in helped to make the adventure capitalist a relatable and maybe even likable personality despite the fact that he's more mercenary than your friendly drinking (or in my case, gourmet) buddy. In fact, I liked the fact that he's upfront about his profit-seeking goals and in some of his journey logs his decisions did reveal that he's not all that unfeeling nor invulnerable to mistakes and 'trickay'. I suppose he'd be a great sport as a trade partner and travel companion.
This travel diary of sorts are well-balanced in trials and rewards, and in the end you get a satisfying conclusion where he made his profit and everything's tied up nicely with a pretty ribbon. Oh, and he's Irish too, so perhaps luck had something to do with it. Not to take credit away from his achievements, I just couldn't resist on that one.
This is a perfect book to carry when one is travelling, one that introduces some culture into the countries featured, while also reaffirming some universal human nature that we know but often overlook. No mind-blowing discoveries or breathtaking literature and plot, just the simple pleasures offered when one immerses oneself in humanity, in nature, in adventure and in life.
I liked it that some of the locations he picked were locales that I'd probably not visit or otherwise wouldn't know a thing of, and he included the trading bit without dumping too much technicalities or the more mundane red tape stuff. True, by the end of it, as a reader I can't say that I'm able to embark on a trading adventure, but I did get a glimpse of how trading works, even at a superficial level, and he made it seem fun.
Mr Woodman and Mr Sayeed. Photos included in the book such as this one made the read even more enjoyable. Edit: Woot, Mr Woodman has his own TV show on Ch4!
His exploits in trading coffee in particular reminded me of my own recent experience buying the indigenous produce of villagers in a remote area of Flores. I'd bought coffee beans directly from village farmers as souvenirs (and because they tasted great) and now that I think of it, those beans aren't as cheap as I thought they were and in fact even at the first trading point I was already on the short end of the bargain (although in this case I was happy to oblige since the experience in that village was amazing). One thing's for sure, I'll always think of the insane profits coffee retailers are making and will think twice when I'm ordering a cup at Starbucks.
More importantly, the flashes of candour and humour thrown in helped to make the adventure capitalist a relatable and maybe even likable personality despite the fact that he's more mercenary than your friendly drinking (or in my case, gourmet) buddy. In fact, I liked the fact that he's upfront about his profit-seeking goals and in some of his journey logs his decisions did reveal that he's not all that unfeeling nor invulnerable to mistakes and 'trickay'. I suppose he'd be a great sport as a trade partner and travel companion.
This travel diary of sorts are well-balanced in trials and rewards, and in the end you get a satisfying conclusion where he made his profit and everything's tied up nicely with a pretty ribbon. Oh, and he's Irish too, so perhaps luck had something to do with it. Not to take credit away from his achievements, I just couldn't resist on that one.
This is a perfect book to carry when one is travelling, one that introduces some culture into the countries featured, while also reaffirming some universal human nature that we know but often overlook. No mind-blowing discoveries or breathtaking literature and plot, just the simple pleasures offered when one immerses oneself in humanity, in nature, in adventure and in life.
July 10, 2016
Very good lessons in business, from unusual trades around the world
Conor Woodman left his job at the City of London, sold his flat, put all of his belongings in a storage, and converted his £25,000 profit from selling his flat into $50,000 (the GBP/USD rate at the time). He then use the money to invest and trade while circum-navigating the world, with one objective: to find out whether we can still trade the old way: to buy something in one country, travel with it, and sell it in another country.
His trade routes and its commodities were quite unusual, which make the book interesting: Selling carpet in Morrocco, camel trading in Sudan, selling Zambian coffee in South Africa, selling South African chilli sauce in India, horse trading in Kyrgyzstan, buying jade in Kashgar, selling Taiwanese oolong tea in Japan, selling Mexican tequila in Brazil, and more.
This in not your typical round-the-world adventure book, however, this is not even a backpacking story. Instead, this is a trained economist doing real business trade with real professional businessmen in their respective fields, making long term business connections in the process between the buyers and the selers that he has helped to establish.
Indeed, to my (pleasant) surprise, the entire book has the feel of a business book. It's the economics of pricing, the art of negotiation and salesmanship, the power of branding, the importance of contracts and licensing, the ancient business tricks by different cultures, how to extract the real market price from traders, the highs and lows of exporting and going through customs, and how to recover when your plan A doesn't work out and you really need to get rid of the commodities before leaping to another quest.
But of course, since this is a round-the-world trip to mostly unusual places and meeting unusual people, the high-and-low tales of adventures were (thankfully) not lost: horse racing in Uzbekistan border, getting slammed by Mexican waves, stranded in a Sudanese desert, fishing race in Japan with a wager to marry the fisherman's daughter if he lost, to name a few, and of course the thrills of negotiations and risk takings.
All in all, I began reading this book with the expectation of a light reading on amusing adventure tale. But instead, I got so much more from it: the adventure story, the local insights and the very good lessons in business. And just in case you were wondering, yes, this is the same Conor Woodman that would eventually host the brilliant National Geographic show "Scam City."
Conor Woodman left his job at the City of London, sold his flat, put all of his belongings in a storage, and converted his £25,000 profit from selling his flat into $50,000 (the GBP/USD rate at the time). He then use the money to invest and trade while circum-navigating the world, with one objective: to find out whether we can still trade the old way: to buy something in one country, travel with it, and sell it in another country.
His trade routes and its commodities were quite unusual, which make the book interesting: Selling carpet in Morrocco, camel trading in Sudan, selling Zambian coffee in South Africa, selling South African chilli sauce in India, horse trading in Kyrgyzstan, buying jade in Kashgar, selling Taiwanese oolong tea in Japan, selling Mexican tequila in Brazil, and more.
This in not your typical round-the-world adventure book, however, this is not even a backpacking story. Instead, this is a trained economist doing real business trade with real professional businessmen in their respective fields, making long term business connections in the process between the buyers and the selers that he has helped to establish.
Indeed, to my (pleasant) surprise, the entire book has the feel of a business book. It's the economics of pricing, the art of negotiation and salesmanship, the power of branding, the importance of contracts and licensing, the ancient business tricks by different cultures, how to extract the real market price from traders, the highs and lows of exporting and going through customs, and how to recover when your plan A doesn't work out and you really need to get rid of the commodities before leaping to another quest.
But of course, since this is a round-the-world trip to mostly unusual places and meeting unusual people, the high-and-low tales of adventures were (thankfully) not lost: horse racing in Uzbekistan border, getting slammed by Mexican waves, stranded in a Sudanese desert, fishing race in Japan with a wager to marry the fisherman's daughter if he lost, to name a few, and of course the thrills of negotiations and risk takings.
All in all, I began reading this book with the expectation of a light reading on amusing adventure tale. But instead, I got so much more from it: the adventure story, the local insights and the very good lessons in business. And just in case you were wondering, yes, this is the same Conor Woodman that would eventually host the brilliant National Geographic show "Scam City."
December 30, 2012
If only "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" go out in the noon-day sun, then what is one to make of Conor Woodman, an "economist, writer and television presenter" as Wikipedia would have it? Having no exposure to his career except this book, I must say that I was impressed by his initiative.
He basically quit his (depressing) job and decided that he could double his money the old-fashioned way -- by trading face-to-face, the way merchants have done since before the Silk Road. This leads him to try selling all manner of commodities, from live horses and camels to teak furniture, tequila and coffee. (He describes a hilarious episode about the pitfalls of finding marzipan in one's coffee.)
He describes the situations where he got ripped off, situations where he plunged in without knowing anything about the market, and situations where he gains the upper hand -- all the while sharing valuable advice about such ephemeral subjects as "the importance of having a brand." This is a very good crash course in the rigors of being an international salesman.
He basically quit his (depressing) job and decided that he could double his money the old-fashioned way -- by trading face-to-face, the way merchants have done since before the Silk Road. This leads him to try selling all manner of commodities, from live horses and camels to teak furniture, tequila and coffee. (He describes a hilarious episode about the pitfalls of finding marzipan in one's coffee.)
He describes the situations where he got ripped off, situations where he plunged in without knowing anything about the market, and situations where he gains the upper hand -- all the while sharing valuable advice about such ephemeral subjects as "the importance of having a brand." This is a very good crash course in the rigors of being an international salesman.
March 9, 2016
Disillusioned yuppie quits his job to travel round the world. The twist? He aims to test his entrepreneurial skills against ancient markets around the world, buying and selling camels, jade and even inflatable surfboards amongst other things. So while we're all about globalisation and commoditising trade, he puts living back in making a living - i.e. connecting people in trade. From artisan to dealer, from farmer to trader.
While I wouldn't say this acts as a replacement for an economics/negotiation textbook, there are still things to be learnt. Once in a while, you get quotable quips. I say, read it because it's entertaining and because it lets you live a vicariously through his "off the beaten track" travel stories.
I considered giving this 5 stars because I loved it!! Woodman is a hilarious writer and I laughed aloud at various portions.
While I wouldn't say this acts as a replacement for an economics/negotiation textbook, there are still things to be learnt. Once in a while, you get quotable quips. I say, read it because it's entertaining and because it lets you live a vicariously through his "off the beaten track" travel stories.
I considered giving this 5 stars because I loved it!! Woodman is a hilarious writer and I laughed aloud at various portions.
August 19, 2017
One of the most memorable books I read in recent years. I cam across Connor Woodman when I saw a documentary of his trading attempts around the world on TV. This goes into more depth and is quite fascinating!
Thinking about producing products, taking them to different places and selling them at a profit - gave me a better understanding of the world's commerce, as banal as that might sound. In everyday life we probably don't think about this complex international network much.
This book is also inspirational for people, who might want to find a market opportunity. It's brave and entrepreneurial what Connor Woodman did and very interesting throughout to follow him and his ideas! 5/5 stars
Thinking about producing products, taking them to different places and selling them at a profit - gave me a better understanding of the world's commerce, as banal as that might sound. In everyday life we probably don't think about this complex international network much.
This book is also inspirational for people, who might want to find a market opportunity. It's brave and entrepreneurial what Connor Woodman did and very interesting throughout to follow him and his ideas! 5/5 stars
February 3, 2014
Splendid. Connor has proven that it is possible to do trading the old ways. He travelled to numerous different countries to find goods and buyers. The thing is, he has sacrificed a lot of his money just to prove that it is still possible to do trading the traditional way.
The good thing after reading this book is that I learned a lot of things simultaneously, e.g. negotiations, culture, fun facts about the countries he visited, etc. I enjoyed every second reading this book.
The good thing after reading this book is that I learned a lot of things simultaneously, e.g. negotiations, culture, fun facts about the countries he visited, etc. I enjoyed every second reading this book.
May 5, 2012
It is very common to find books where people travel and spend money. This book is different. It shows us how travel and investment can get along and profitable. It is indeed another angle of traveling for me. Never heard of that. The fact that Conor quit his job, sold his flat to travel and investing face to face with local people in each country he visited make the book very tempting to read.
July 11, 2014
It deserves a 5 star because of Conor's bravery to take such a trip and the inspiration it brought me to take charge of my life. His journey showed a whole lot of opportunities and lessons to be learnt in making money and in life. More importantly, having the gut to leave the comfort zone and venture out for a new experience is the very essence I like about this book.
Good job Conor!
Good job Conor!
December 19, 2010
A cool way to see the world. I hope he took some time out to explore all the places he visited while traveling.
I think the book really shows the generosity and openness of people in the world. Well. maybe not generosity. But willingness to share.
I think the book really shows the generosity and openness of people in the world. Well. maybe not generosity. But willingness to share.
November 6, 2010
A pretty good story but not great.
March 30, 2011
Good fun and wittily told. The author makes a good narrator too!
April 4, 2012
Very interesting especially if you like traveling !
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews