travel editor nz herald

• +64 (0)9 550 4635

Travel writer Mark Mitchell interviews leading New Zealand journalist Ewan McDonald, exploring his travel writing inspiration, highlights and writing tips and advice. 

Ewan McDonald had a great gig at the Waikato Times in Hamilton. He was a sub-editor, writing headlines and checking facts. But he also interviewed the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Elton John, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Adams. Then, by a ‘happy accident’, he was sent to Germany and Switzerland to write travel articles.

‘That was almost 40 years ago. I’ve had an unbelievable run since then,’ says Ewan.

Currently writing for NZ Herald , Let’s Travel magazine, MiNDFOOD and the BBC , Ewan and his team have won over 50 writing awards over the past four decades. Ewan tutors other Kiwis to write on the Travel Writing Course and the Freelance Journalism Course at NZ Writers College .

What is it about travel writing that gives you the most satisfaction?

Same as any other form of journalism – coming home and delivering a good story well told. That applies to whether it’s an interview, a restaurant review, or an afternoon at the school fair. Observing, appreciating, understanding what happens around you, and your part in it.

Most of the time I was just having fun. If you are not doing that, you’re in the wrong career.

What are your travel writing highlights?

The Dry Valleys of Antarctica on one of the earliest Air New Zealand flights – awe-inspiring. Walking into the bush outside Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, with a young local and hanging out in their village. Landing in Istanbul during a revolution and reporting from the burning buses and tear gas.

Many highlights have come from personal or family holidays rather than magazine assignments, which can be quite structured.

What is your favourite travel writing destination?

 The next one, of course!

What are your three top travel writing tips?

1. Read. Not just the great travel writers – Chatwin, Newby, Bryson, Morris, Stark – but the great writers. The only way to learn to write is to read.

2. Travel with an open mind. You never know what is about to happen around the next corner. Try the food even if the thought of it makes your stomach turn. Never turn down an invitation to a pub, festival, event or someone’s home (unless it’s clearly unsafe).

3. Tape this whakatauki inside your camera bag or passport.

He aha te mea nui o te ao: What is the most important thing in the world?

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata: It is people, it is people, it is people.

Sure, you’re going to visit places. But most of all you’re going into the world to meet people, and your readers are interested in them.

Any advice for aspiring travel writers?

You are the eyes and ears of people who are not there. In travel writing that may mean people who have been to, say, Beijing and want to relive their experience; to people who are thinking about going to Beijing, and want an idea of what it’s like; and people who will never go to Beijing but want to read about it.

Take photos. Even if they are not published, those images will be great memory-joggers when you’re writing the story.

To access Ewan’s travel writing and other journalism articles, go to

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/ewan%20mcdonald/  

About the Author:

Mark Mitchell is a travel writer based in the ‘Winterless Far North’ of New Zealand.

He is a 60 something adventurous and ambitious traveller whose writing style is

witty and focuses on the unusual, quirky travel experiences. He will be

extensively exploring Asian destinations from Turkey to Vietnam over the next

10 years, writing to inspire other 60+ travellers to visit these unique destinations.

Learn to Write Articles for Magazines and Webzines

Get notified about global writing contests.

Join Our Community Online

Subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter.

Be the first to hear about upcoming writing competitions, courses and expert writing tips.

Popular Posts

An Interview with Andrew Salomon, Award-Winning Literary Author

An Interview with Author Madeleine Redding

Unveiling Why I Write

Writers Evolve! How to Make AI Work for Us

4 Reasons ChatGPT Can’t Compete with Professional Writers

Writing Through Menopausal Brain Fog

How To Write a Compelling Plot: A Guide

The Role of Emotion in Writing: 5 Tips to Make Your Readers Feel

Cracking the Genre Code: Tips and Tricks for Writing an Engaging Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi, or Fantasy Novel

Read More...

Andrew Salomon is an award-winning author, clinching both the PEN Literary Award for African Fiction and the Short.Sharp.Stories Award. His debut novel, Tokoloshe Song, garnered

Madeleine Redding completed two writing courses at New Zealand Writers College. Her memoir Hold My Hand, Rosie. Don’t Let Go, co-written with her daughter, is

By Emma du Preez Last week, while walking my dogs at a local creek, I saw something that looked like a scene from the turn

The recent rise of AI has been seen by writers as anything from troubling to an extinction-level event. But so were the tools that came

JOURNALISM COURSES

Writing articles for websites and blogs, freelance journalism for magazines and webzines, advanced freelance journalism, travel writing, write a non-fiction book, creative writing courses, basics of creative writing, advanced creative writing, short story writing course, advanced short story writing, write a novel, write a romance novel, advanced novel writing, writing science fiction and fantasy, an introduction to poetry, advanced poetry, scriptwriting, advanced scriptwriting, writing for video games, writing books for children | part one, writing books for children | part two, write your memoir, advanced memoir writing.

The Writers' Marketing and Publishing Toolkit

BUSINESS & GRAMMAR

Advanced english grammar, english grammar for beginners, business writing toolkit, writing coach course, mastering punctuation, report writing and presentation, write better newsletters, specialist courses, copy-editing and proofreading, press release and media writing, copywriting, writing seo copy for websites, self-publish your e-book, writing intensives, self-guided 14-day creative writing intensive, self-guided 14-day story-building intensive, free 5-day creative writing challenge, buy a gift voucher, writing services, writers and editors for hire, how we train, terms and conditions, privacy policy, connect with us, © 2005 - 2024 the writers college all rights reserved, +64 (0) 9 550 4635, [email protected], our refund policy.

If within seven days of starting your course you are not happy on your course, we can either transfer you to a different course or provide a full refund.

If you request a refund after seven days and before 30 days we will charge a 5% administrative fee, as well as any bank fees and tutor fees already incurred.

We do not offer a refund after 30 days on the course.

722 episodes

Keeping up to date with the news just became a little easier. Available every weekday at 5am, tune in as Chelsea Daniels chats with the journalists and newsmakers, going behind the headlines to break down what you need to know on the biggest stories of the day. 

The Front Page NZ Herald

• 3.5 • 2 Ratings
• APR 18, 2024

Space Minister Judith Collins on the billion dollar potential for our sector

Our Minister for Space has been working overseas promoting New Zealand’s space industry over in the US. Judith Collins has returned from the US where she spoke at the Space Symposium -- putting us on the global stage – and she met with senior US government space officials. According to Deloitte, in 2018 and 2019 New Zealand's space industry contributed $1.7 billion to the economy – but, our Space Minister thinks by now it should be three or more times larger than that. Today on The Front Page, Judith Collins joins us to discuss what opportunities New Zealand has beyond our horizons. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• APR 17, 2024

Corrections on the defence: Is the country's prison system still fit for purpose?

"Unproductive and unwilling to change" - a scathing report from outgoing Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has slammed our country’s prison system. He told the government’s Justice Committee he’ll “leave the job with disappointment” that he hasn’t made “any impact in having the Department of Corrections as an organisation we can be proud of.” A report from the Office of the Inspectorate released just yesterday shows that prisoners in three units at Auckland Prison were not able to leave their cells every day, for many months. Today on The Front Page, Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, Neil Beales joins us to respond to the Ombudsman’s comments. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• APR 16, 2024

Israel-Hamas war: Fears of widening conflict as aid workers fight for support

There are growing fears the Middle East could be on the brink of war. Over the weekend, Iran launched hundreds of missiles towards Israel, in retaliation for what is believed to have been an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria last week. It comes after six months of fighting in Gaza, which has drawn the ire of Muslim-majority countries in the region. With no end in sight for the Gaza conflict, there are now fears that Israel may seek revenge against Iran, sparking a region-wide war that will further divide the world. Later in this episode, we’ll hear from aid workers working across Gaza for the latest on the humanitarian crisis there, but first on The Front Page, University of Otago Professor of politics and international studies, Robert Patman, joins us to dissect the latest on Israel, Iran and Palestine. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• APR 15, 2024

Donald Trump starts first criminal trial - will it impact his fight for re-election?

Today, US time, marks the beginning of Donald Trump’s slew of criminal trials.   In what’s been coined the ‘hush money’ case, the former President is being accused of falsifying his company’s business records in connection to a payment to an adult film star in the run-up to the 2016 election. After a judge just last week dismissed Trump’s motion to toss out the indictment altogether, or delay the trial further, the 45th President will now must fight a criminal trial and an election campaign at the same time. Today on The Front Page, Politico magazine senior writer and former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori joins us from New York to discuss the trial that could define the US election. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• APR 14, 2024

Sydney mall stabbing: What happened in horrific Bondi Junction attack?

At least six people are dead and many more injured after a lone attacker stabbed shoppers at a Westfield shopping mall in Sydney’s Bondi Junction on Saturday.  40-year-old Joel Cauchi was killed at the scene by Police but not until he had upended countless lives in his brutal attack.   In this bonus episode of The Front Page, Sydney-based ABC News reporter Penny Timms joins to give an update on this horrific attack.   Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lost Boys of Dilworth: Behind the decades of abuse at the all-boys school

A new docu-drama has revisited the horrors of Dilworth. The Auckland boarding school was intended to help disadvantaged boys, but over the decades multiple teachers have been charged and found guilty of sexual abuse – with the number of victims believed to be more than 200. On The Front Page, Open Justice editor Elizabeth Binning joins to discuss the background to this shocking abuse, and co-directors of TVNZ’s The Lost Boys of Dilworth, Mary Durham and Peter Burger, go behind the scenes of their docudrama.  You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• © 2024 NZ Herald and NewstalkZB

Customer Reviews

Top podcasts in news, you might also like.

Quick Hit: Budget travel tips, with Herald travel editor Stephanie Holmes.

About this item.

"A highlight clip from the September 2019 episode "the most successful ways to travel on a budget".If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it.I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here, and Twitter here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information."--RSS feed.

What can I do with this item?

Check copyright status and what you can do with this item

Report this item

If you believe this item breaches our terms of use please report this item

DigitalNZ brings together more than 30 million items from institutions so that they are easy to find and use. This information is the best information we could find on this item. This item was added on 11 March 2023 , and updated 20 August 2023 . Learn more about how we work.

What is the copyright status of this item?

All Rights Reserved

This item is all rights reserved, which means you'll have to get permission from National Library of New Zealand before using it.

You must always check with National Library of New Zealand to confirm the specific terms of use, but this is our understanding:

Non-infringing use

NZ Copyright law does not prevent every use of a copyright work. You should consider what you can and cannot do with a copyright work.

You may not copy and/or share this item with others without further permission. This includes posting it on your blog, using it in a presentation, or any other public use.

No modifying

You are not allowed to adapt or remix this item into any other works.

No commercial use

You may not use this item commercially.

Related items

Business journalist Liam Dann warns 30,000 New Zealand jobs could go over coming year

• 2 hours ago

New Zealand Herald business editor-at-large Liam Dann believes the swingeing public sector job cuts are just the beginning - and we could see up to 30,000 jobs go across Aotearoa in the next year.

With 25 years of business reporting under his belt, Dann recently released BBQ Economics: How money works and why it matters.

He told Saturday Morning's Susie Ferguson that the news didn't come as a surprise - economists have been talking about rising unemployment for months.

More from Newshub

"The interest rates go up, the economy gets squeezed and you'll see businesses basically focused on costs and cutting back."

New Zealand had gone through a period of historically low unemployment, bottoming out at a near-record low of 3.2 percent in June 2022 before rising to around 4 percent now . 

In contrast, unemployment went up to about 11 percent in 1992 following the reforms and cutbacks of Ruth Richardson's Mother of All Budgets . That combination of public service cuts and "really deep recession" at that time was "really, really tough and we are in a phase [now] where the transition is [going to be] quite painful", he said.

For some time, he said, economists had been forecasting unemployment rising up to 5.5 percent, "which means we're less than halfway through this process of tightening up the economy, basically.

"And unfortunately it means that tens of thousands - maybe 30,000 - more jobs are going to go in the next year. So it's kind of a case of brace yourself for a bit."

Dann had been vocal about not being a "fan" of the government's planned tax cuts.

"I think there might have been scope further down the line, but I think [the government] would be taking a fiscally conservative approach anyway. [The tax cuts] just make their job harder. I've said it's like trying to tighten up the economy with a hand tied behind your back."

Most economists believed this approach would merely delay the return of government's books to surplus, he said.

"Even Eric Crampton at the New Zealand Initiative - who you'd call a free-market, right-leaning economist - has said this is not a good idea while we're in deficit . He'd probably say cut more jobs, but that's the nature of the political spectrum."

Dann did not spare the previous Labour government from criticism, either. "It's a shame that the last government didn't get this process underway a bit earlier - we could see it coming."

The looming job losses and persistently high interest rates would have a recessionary impact on the economy, he said. 

The idea of austerity had "gone out of fashion" and this government would argue their reforms were moderate.

"After the GFC [Global Financial Crisis] in Britain, for example, they cut back, [whereas] the idea is that really you should push the other direction... So when the economy is shrinking, you should do a bit of stimulus and boost it."

This had been stymied by the previous government's response to Covid-19 lockdowns, he said.

"We've just come through a large period of stimulus with the pandemic and that's caused all this inflation...

"The timing is rough because ... we've still got the tail end of that inflation [and] the recession is actually doing the job of getting that out. It's removing demand from the economy - people save more and don't spend as much - and it restricts the money supply... But it's been quite a slow process."

The proposed tax cuts would only maintain that inflationary pressure, Dann said.

"I understand that the government is arguing that hard-working people need a break. But that's kind of the same as some of the breaks that the Labour Party gave, [but] delivered in a different way: tax cuts on petrol and and family credits and things.

"You can balance it all out with the job cuts and say we're fiscally neutral, but the impulse is still inflationary. You're still putting money into the economy at a time when we're trying to get money out of the economy. So it kind of works against itself. I I just think the timing isn't right, personally."

Rugby: Six players removed from NPC squads after Covid-19 travel exemption error

Share this article

NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand Rugby has removed six players from its NPC squads and is working with the players and their provincial unions to relocate them back to Auckland after being alerted to errors in their respective applications for a Covid-19 travel exemption.

NZ Rugby was made aware of an issue with the provincial union's applications early this week and advised the Government as soon as possible, seeking advice on how to remedy the situation in the interests of public health and player welfare.

The six players travelled separately from Auckland to Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Bay of Plenty and Northland respectively to join their NPC squads over the past six to 10 days after being granted a travel exemption via an online application process managed by their provincial unions.

NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson said it was an unfortunate situation for the players who had moved out of Auckland in good faith for their employment.

"I want to make it clear that the players are not at fault in this situation. The respective provincial unions managed an online application process to move their players out of Auckland, and although they provided full disclosure of their circumstances and intentions as professional rugby players, the forms were ultimately submitted incorrectly.

"We are disappointed with what has occurred. Our focus now is to support our players and provincial unions, who now recognise that their processes should have been more robust. We are working closely with them to remedy the situation and get the players home. They are all following health authority advice around Covid-19 protocols."

After being alerted to the situation by NZR, the Government has advised that the travel exemptions for the players have been revoked.

"The Government have been extremely understanding since we approached them, and we are grateful for their advice and guidance. We'd also like to thank our provincial unions for their co-operation as we have worked through this issue," Robinson said.

All six players have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with four of them fully vaccinated.

Latest from NPC

Waikato rugby champ selects squad for new international competition

The inaugural Rugby Championship Under 20 Tournament will take place in Australia.

Chiefs player Tupou Vaa’i clock up 50th game for club

Upsets and closely fought games as club rugby season gets underway

Te Awamutu Sports rugby ready to kick off 2024 campaign

Real NZ Mountains: The new ski season beckons