I was born and bred in Sheffield, in northern England, which keen listeners will hear in my flat vowels. After school, I spent four years studying English Literature and History at the University of Edinburgh, an experience that taught me – amongst other things – how to battle through horizontal rain and to swear like a Scot (often simultaniously).
I travelled before and after university, volunteering on conservation projects in Ecuador and Australia on the first occasion, and then backpacking around China, SE Asia, Fiji and the US.
After a year of working in Melbourne and Sydney, I moved back to the UK in 2012 and spent the following five years in London. In January 2017, I decided it was time for a change of scenery (and some sunshine), and relocated to Cape Town.
Here in the Mother City, I take advantage of being surrounded by mountains and vines: hiking, trail running and then ruining all that wholesomeness at some of the country’s best wine farms.
Travel
My first adventure was spending three months in Ecuador when I was 18, having been inspired by geography lessons (yes, inspired by geography lessons) about the Amazon jungle. During my time in Ecuador, I stayed on a hill station on the Galápagos Islands, lived on a farm in the Amazon rainforest for six weeks and travelled to Quito, Otavalo and the Cloud Forest. I learnt a lot and the experience genuinely shaped my future. From then on, travel was my focus, first as a pastime and lifestyle, then later as a career.
Work
During and after university, I gained journalism work experience in Trivandrum, India, completed two internships with the BBC in Manchester and London, and interned at a financial magazine in Sydney. In London, I freelanced for broadcasters, travel companies and media outlets for a couple of years before eventually settling into a permanent job, managing the content and marketing team at luxury travel company, Jacada Travel. I won my first writing awards and was also selected as one of TTG Media’s 30 under 30 travel leaders of the future in 2015. Also in 2015, I founded and edited the company’s print magazine, The Explorer, which I continued to run for over two years.
I now work as a full-time freelance journalist, writer and editor.
I am most interested in conservation stories, emerging tourism destinations, responsible travel, sustainable businesses, inspiring people, and nature.
I can be contacted for any commissions, projects or just to chat here.
Awards
2018 Travel Media Awards – Shortlisted for Trade Writer of the Year
2018 LATA Media Awards – Runner-up – Best Self-Published Article (ghost-written Explorer piece)
2016 LATA Media Awards – Runner-up – Best Self-Published Article
2015 LATA Media Awards – Winner – Best Self-Published Article
TTG’s 30 under 30: Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders 2015 – 16
In the press
Comments about the use of plastic in hotels – Skift – April 2019
Interview about the Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana – The World Nomads Podcast – November 2018
Are we witnessing the return of the travel agent? – Vogue – July 2017
What’s shaking up the travel industry – Positive Luxury – June 2016
How to plan the best summer vacation –Teen Vogue – May 2016
Heather Richardson, marketing and editorial manager at Jacada Travel recommends using an incognito window “so your flight prices don’t ‘mysteriously’ rise every time you search the same route.”
Honeymoon ideas and advice – Responsible Travel – January 2016
30 under 30: meet Jacada Travel’s rising star –TTG – December 2015
The world’s best-designed hotels – Travel + Leisure – September 2015
Maybe it’s that glittering chandelier hanging in the lobby, or the cool claw-foot tub in your hotel bathroom. “Aesthetics, and thoughtful details, have a lot to do with drawing guests back to a hotel,” says Heather Richardson, the marketing and editorial director at Jacada, a London-based safari and tour operator.
Thanks to social media, though, such details can also be irresistible in terms of another kind of instant gratification. “Travel has also become quite competitive,” Richardson admits. “People want to post photos that inspire their friends and family.”
Heather Richardson 