Trip tips from travel film-maker Ash Bhardwaj

Film-maker and author Ash Bhardwaj on travelling with purpose. Interview by Bryony Cottam

---

Ash Bhardwaj has built his life around adventures. An award–winning journalist and broadcaster, his work has taken him 1,000 kilometres on foot through Uganda and Sudan (filming for Levison Wood’s Channel 4 series Walking the Nile), along Russia’s 8,500-kilometre border with Europe (for his own podcast series Edgelands) and trekking through mountains in India, Nepal, Albania and Oman. So when the birth of his daughter put a stop to his cross-continent expeditions – at least for now – Bhardwaj found it quite difficult to adjust. ‘It’s become part of my identity,’ he says. ‘I’ve had to think about what I can do instead.’ 

This, he says, has led him to reflect on why we travel in the first place, and what we can do to make our travel more fulfilling. Speaking to friends and family – and, later, to psychologists, geneticists, athletes and explorers – he began to realise that, while we all have different motivations for travelling, we don’t often think carefully about what they are. ‘So often I speak to people who have had unfulfilling travel experiences, even though they’ve spent loads of time and money,’ says Bhardwaj. ‘But the problem isn’t the destination itself. Their holiday simply didn’t match up with the experience they wanted from that particular trip.’ 

In his new book, Why We Travel, Bhardwaj explores what we can gain from venturing out into the world with a greater sense of purpose, drawing on his own travel experiences as well as expert advice. ‘The thing that has made travel most satisfying for me,’ he says, ‘has been figuring out how to make my motivations align more closely with what I’m doing.’ He explains that, at a surface level, you might want to travel to experience something new. ‘But what does that mean?’ he asks. ‘Do you want to eat new foods or do you want to engage in another culture? Do you want space to recuperate or do you want something that is physically or psychologically challenging?’ Asking yourself these questions, he says, can help you to figure out your destination, how you travel, where you stay and what you do once you’re there.

Travelling with greater purpose will look different to different people – and that’s okay, assures Bhardwaj. ‘All these different motivations are perfectly legitimate. We all want different things at different times.’ When you start to reflect more on your reasons for travel, you’ll likely end up making more responsible travel choices, too, he adds. ‘The two things go hand in hand. If you can recognise that what you really want from travelling is the chance to eat Thai food and sit on a beach doing nothing, then you’ll realise that you don’t need to go all the way to Thailand. You can enjoy beaches and Thai restaurants in Europe, and reduce the size of your carbon footprint at the same time.’

For Bhardwaj, having a young family has meant looking for new challenges while travelling. As someone who has mostly travelled alone, he’s discovered that travelling with others can present some unexpected opportunities. ‘Yes, solo travel is important – it allows self-discovery and independence, it allows you to develop your psychological resilience,’ he says, ‘But I think we sometimes forget the benefit of travelling with others, and that it can be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about yourself.

Next time you’re on holiday with friends or a significant other, don’t compromise – the perfect recipe for a holiday that no-one really enjoys to the fullest. Instead, challenge each other to spend a day doing something the other would never choose to do. ‘It’s a different kind of psychological development and growth, and you get to do it with someone you know and trust,’ says Bhardwaj. ‘And, you never know, you might discover something you like that you would have never tried on your own.’

---