ABOUT ASH

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” - JRR. Tolkien.

I love stories. I love hearing them and making sense of them, and I’ve spent two decades finding and telling stories for radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.

I’m usually introduced as a journalist and broadcaster, but my biggest passion is to share what I’ve learned with others. I’ve been lucky enough to reach a wide range of audiences through the media, and as a keynote speaker to hundreds of extraordinary businesses and organisations.

I’m fascinated by stories’ ability to shape our belief and behaviours; how particular narratives resonate with specific audiences, and how other themes are universal. I’ve researched stories’ through academia, taught others how to tell them, and used stories whilst countering violent extremism and disinformation.

Purpose matters to me. As an infantry officer in the British Army Reserve, I’ve served all over the world, and at home during the Covid response. I spent three years at the Centre for Army Leadership, where I used storytelling and media training to help develop skills-based leadership education for the whole Army.

Travel has always been central to my storytelling, thanks to the guidance and inspiration of my Mum. She raised us in social housing and took on a second cleaning job to pay for my spot on a school rugby tour to the Pacific. That journey ignited my curiosity about the world, and I’ve been travelling ever since: exploring identity in Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea, filming expeditions in Uganda and Sudan, or learning the oral histories of Māori.

My award-winning book, Why We Travel, looks at psychology, motivation, and fulfilment through the lens of travel. I’ve realised that good travel is less about what we do, and more about knowing our own reasons for doing it.

Today I help leaders and organisations to develop their storytelling and human-centred leadership . The ability to communicate clearly has never been more important, and the right story, to the right audience, in the right way, at the right time, can move individuals, teams, and entire industries.

Ash Bhardwaj is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, keynote speaker, and author. He has reported from over 50 countries for outlets including BBC Radio 4, The World Service, The Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Condé Nast Traveller, and Huffington Post. He is the resident travel expert on BBC One’s Morning Live and BBC Berkshire, and appears as an expert on Channel 5 and Sky News.

Ash wrote & presented the BBC Radio 4 documentaries How Ukraine Made Us Care, NATO’s Newest Member and Britain’s Shrinking Army. He produces and presents The First Mile and The Human Advantage podcasts, hosts The Moth storytelling events in London, and is a sought-after keynote speaker and coach in motivation, storytelling, and human-centred leadership.

Ash’s journeys include: a 1000km walk through Uganda and Sudan whilst filming Levison Wood’s Walking the Nile for Channel 4; travelling 2500km along the India-Pakistan border to present a 4-part TV series for Discovery Channel; retracing secret British missions in Albania; kayaking through New Zealand; and travelling 8500km of Russia’s European border (including Donbas and occupied Crimea) for his Telegraph podcast series Edgelands. He took part in Sky News’ The Great Debate about Ukraine and has worked on influence campaigns in highly polarised environments, including countering violent extremism in the UK and Middle East.

Before travel writing, Ash was a ski instructor, science teacher and wannabe cowboy. He is a captain in the British Army Reserve (RIFLES), an MA graduate of King’s College London and a lecturer in journalism at City University London. He spent three years at the Centre for Army Leadership, is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and has judged both the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, and the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award.

Ash’s debut book, Why We Travel: 12 Reasons to Travel - and What They Can Teach You About Life, is a smart-thinking blend of memoir, travelogue, research, interviews, and advice; it explores our motivations for travel, how to do it better, and how it can help us to live a more fulfilling life. It was the Independent’s Best Travel Book of 2024.