The First Mile is an immersive travel podcast, bringing you untold stories from the world of adventure. It is presented by Ash Bhardwaj and Pip Stewart — two travel journalists, who are adventurers in their own right — and explores everything from the ethics of cultural tourism, to documenting your journeys and making a living from travel. Ash and Pip navigate this territory with some of the world’s greatest travellers, who reveal how they got their first break in travel writing, planned remote expeditions, or made the switch from a corporate career to a life of adventure. Alongside these in-depth interviews are travel-narrative dispatches: evocative field recordings from Ash and Pip’s adventures, which take the listener along for the ride. New episodes are released weekly, in 10-episode seasons. ****** Season one’s interview guests include: author Monisha Rajesh, explorer Levison Wood, film-maker Reza Pakravan, and travel-writer Leon McCarron. Our dispatches come from Annapurna, Nepal, and Whanganui, New Zealand, where our hosts report back on rites of passage, celestial navigation, the joys of moonshine liquor, and a whole lot more. ****** Ash Bhardwaj is an award-winning broadcaster, film-maker and Telegraph Travel columnist. He regularly reports for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and his films have appeared on BBC, Channel 4, Discovery and National Geographic. Pip Stewart has cycled halfway around the world and completed a world-first kayak descent of Guyana’s Essequibo River (where she picked up a flesh-eating parasite). She is the former Red Bull adventure editor, and her presenting work has appeared on BBC, Al Jazeera and The Telegraph. ****** We hope you enjoy The First Mile. Please let us know what you think of it in the comments, and give us a rating, too.
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Levison Wood on Planning Expeditions and Making a Career in Travel.
Levison Wood is an explorer, author and photographer, yet his journey to success has not been straightforward. In this interview episode, he shares what he’s learnt along the way - tips you can hopefully use on your own life path.
In this conversation, find out how Lev went from sleeping on park benches to becoming a bestselling travel writer, why breaking his leg before Special Forces selection changed his life - for the better - and what Walking the Nile was really like.
In this episode, discover:
- Lev’s philosophy on travel, and how he got started in adventure-travel.
- Why hard graft is important, how to get published and why up-skilling is so important.
- How to set up an adventure-travel company - and why making mistakes is important.
- How to fund expeditions, and why Lev would often sleep on a bench in Clapham Common.
- Why failure may shape your life - for the better.
- Why goal setting, planning and studying your role models is so powerful.
- How to land a TV gig.
- How to overcome self-doubt and failure.
- How to balance commercial success and your own values.
- The realities of walking across Africa.
- How to start your first book.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Lev’s website
- Lev’s Instagram
- Lev’s Twitter
- Lev’s books
- The Army’s Seven Questions
- Explorers Against Extinction
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We’d love to hear what you think of this week’s The First Mile and if you’ve got any suggestions of topics or people you’d like to hear interviewed. Drop us a line on Instagram @ashbhardwaj and @pipstewart or Twitter @AshBhardwaj and @Stewart_Pip.
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Comments (1)
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Love the energy! Enjoy your style.
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
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