Ep5: Reza Pakravan on Funding Your Journeys, and Switching From a Corporate Career to a Life of Adventure.

Reza Pakravan on Funding Your Journeys, and Switching From a Corporate Career to a Life of Adventure. Have you ever wondered how to completely change your life? Reza Pakravan did just that, packing in his corporate life in London for a life of adventure. Reza has cycled the length of the planet, made (and presented) TV shows highlighting important global issues for some of the world’s top broadcasters, written a few books, and bagged world records along the way. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. In this episode, Reza not only shares his incredible travel stories, but also why he started a brand new career at the age of 37, how he found the confidence to redefine himself - and how you can do the same. Reza is just about to release his brand new Amazon Prime series World's Most Dangerous Borders, and in this episode, he reveals how he planned, prepared, produced, and funded the series. In this episode, discover: How Reza Pakravan transitioned from the corporate world to the adventure world. How to build confidence in adventure and travel by starting small. Why you’re never too old to reshape your career. How to learn a brand new skill at the age of 37. What it REALLY takes to cycle the world and get a TV show commissioned. The steps to producing a TV show. Why climate change is the most pressing issue facing our planet. Reza shares his experiences from the Amazon and the Sahel, where temperatures are rising fast. Why Reza spent four days in prison in Darfur. How to get brands to sponsor your trips. How to make a relationship work while on the road - and how being a new parent changes your tolerance to risk and adventure. Links mentioned in this episode: Reza’s Insta http://instagram.com/rezapakravan  Reza’s Twitter https://twitter.com/RezaPakravan  Reza’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/reza.pakravan.9  Reza’s Website https://www.rezapakravan.com  Reza’s Vimeo https://vimeo.com/user29042988  Royal Geographical Society https://www.rgs.org  JOIN US ON SOCIAL: 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.   *Please consider leaving a review if you enjoyed this episode. Thank you! 

Om Podcasten

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.