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Journey of a Lifetime Award

Are you passionate about radio and podcasting?

Are you excited about finding new ways to tell original stories in sound?

And are you itching to explore and understand the world around you? Then we have exciting news for you – applications are open for the 2022 Journey of a Lifetime Award. Listen to two award winners – Lynne Anderson and Redzi Bernard – and if all this sounds fun to you (and it should!) you need to get going on your application. Find full details below.

Please note that this link will take you to the RGS website which is managed by a third party and not the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. Your use of that site is subject to their terms and privacy policy.

This year's winner

Lynne Anderson is this year's winner of the "Journey of a Lifetime" travel bursary where the Royal Geographical Society – in conjunction with Radio 4 – awards £5000 to someone with a brilliant idea for a radio adventure.

Lynne used to be a missionary in the Mormon church. The church became a integral part of her life until she left it years later, having suffered a faith crisis. Returning to Salt Lake City 20 years on for a reunion of her former mission sisters, Lynne was forced to face her past and lay some ghosts to rest.

Travelling onwards through the US state parks of Utah, whose modern history is intertwined with the Mormons, she found inner peace in the majesty of nature. Ending up in Las Vegas, the chaos of "Sin City" was a far cry from the conservatism of Salt Lake City and the sublime landscapes surrounding it.

Lynne Anderson

Journey of a Lifetime Award – How to apply

Each year the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ – in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society – offers an award of £5000 to somebody with a winning idea for a dream adventure in any corner of the globe. And they get to turn their "Journey of a Lifetime" into a documentary on Radio 4. The award isn’t meant for holidays or expeditions, but for storytellers with inspiring ideas which involve the pursuit of exploration and knowledge.

2019 winner Redzi Bernard

If you’d like to apply for this exciting award you have until 12:00 Noon, Monday 21 November, 2022 to apply. Applicants must be aged 18 years or over.

Here’s what you need to do:

Make a 60 second audio recording telling us – using just your own voice – about the journey you wish to make. Persuade us! Tell us why you want to make it, why the audience should care and what the story is. You can record this any way you like (smartphone is fine) and submit it as an MP3.

We will invite the best applicants to a face-to-face interview at The Royal Geographical Society in London. You do need to be available for this stage of the process, which is likely to take place in January 2022.

Please note that this link will take you to the RGS website which is managed by a third party and not the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. Your use of that site is subject to their terms and privacy policy.

Find more inspiration in 2019 winner Redzi Bernard's journey

Redzi recreated a journey her mother made in 1968 through the Ethiopian mountains to the holy city of Lalibela, often referred to as the 8th Wonder of the World.

She began in the capital Addis Ababa where her parents met and after a night of Ethiopian jazz she hit the road north, avoiding ethnic clashes along the way.

With guides and mules Redzi embarked on an arduous trek into the mountains to find a vertiginous landscape, gelada baboons and children – who've never seen foreigners before – fleeing on sight.

Her destination, Lalibela, was a complex of Ethiopian Orthodox churches all hewn out of a single piece of rock below ground level.

She arrived to find a scene of pilgrimage and devotion unchanged for centuries. Redzi reflected on her own pilgrimage and struggle as well as that of her mother, who was suffering from cancer.

Listen to Redzi's programme: Mountains, Mules and my Mum

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