a. k. a. This is Not Actual Me Being Curious Because This Was An Assignment Before (Hello Professor, Hello My Friends, You’ve Found My Not-So-Personal Blog, Congrats)

Nevertheless, I tweaked this a little bit.

Nowadays, business has been getting easier and easier, especially for us consumers who can buy everything with just one click then just wait for packed and delivered goods to come to our house. This way of trading, although easier, give the disadvantage of not knowing and seeing how real “traditional” trades were executed. Banking analyst Conor Woodman wonders about this too and set a challenge to go around the world in 6 months try to do “traditional” trades, with camera following his movements to be aired as documentary.

Set more as entertainment and education than pure business, doing transaction after staying few days in one continent, it was no wonder that in his journey Conor Woodman gained a few losses. You cannot just expect profits from doing business in other country (other continent, even), which language and culture you know almost nothing about, doing trading in business you have no qualification and no interest in with only few days of research. The fact that his challenge resulting in profit in the end, in my opinion, was a feat that cannot be pulled off easily. To be successful in any market requires knowledge and or experience that cannot be obtained from one or two deals. Many things to say about this actually, but in short, practical trading is different from the theory written in the book, but the basic knowledge will still apply.

Inner business ticks aside (and there are many of them), Around the World in 80 Trades is a very recommended documentary to be watched. The series give us insight that there are still many opportunities for us waiting to be explored. There are people saying that golden age of invention already finished, everything’s been invented already and nothing more to innovate. That is such a pessimistic view. With idea and inspiration, with dream and hard work, creativity of searching for gaps for development and opportunity. In the 21^stcentury, people still invent things like retinal implant and web 2.0. Opportunity here isn’t only defined as market opportunity such as hot sauce or inflatable surfing board, but also partner, time, or other finite, limited resources. Opportunity also sometime appears as a one in a lifetime challenge, in Richard Branson’s principle of success, be courageous and take it. Other than that, there is also an implicit message that everything you have now is actually being made by people, fish taken from the sea, grapes grown in the vineyard. This is the reason why sustainable, free-trade, or organic products have more expensive price than normal products. There are more thought about people in those products, resulting in higher price. In the end, it is quite enjoyable and quite inspiring, make us learn more about traditional trading, culture around the world, and searching for opportunity and challenge.

By the way, if you are interested, you can also enjoy the book version for more thorough experience.

The Book Cover. Available on Amazon