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Stephanie Holmes found her true calling as the Travel Editor at New Zealand’s Herald after stints in various entertainment journalism and communications roles.
I'm Steph, Travel Editor for the Herald. Travelling the world had always been my ambition as a child growing up in the UK. But rather than exploring my European "backyard" after I graduated from university in 2001 with a Honours degree in Communication Studies and Post-Grad Diploma in Journalism, (thanks for asking!), I took off to the furthest place from home I could think of. I planned to stay 6 months in New Zealand... and I'm still here. After stints in various entertainment journalism and communications roles, I found my true calling in 2016 as deputy editor for Travel. In my first few years, I visited far flung destinations including Croatia, Borneo, Costa Rica, France, Abu Dhabi, Israel, Portugal and Sri Lanka. Becoming Editor in November 2019 didn't quite pan out as I imagined. Running the Herald’s Travel magazine is quite the challenge when you've been grounded by a global pandemic. But it's one I relished, and in May 2021 I was delighted to see us win Best Newspaper Magazine at the Voyager Media Awards. There's still a lot to achieve and many more places to explore. I've been lucky enough to visit 33 countries already. But that means there are still 162 to go...
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