Welcome to Trip Notes: Herald Travel's new podcast is the next best thing to being there

Today is a special day for Travel. Tuesday is always our favourite day of the week, when we bring you a new magazine filled with everything that has excited us in the world of travel lately — from the flights we've travelled on to the rooms we've stayed in, the places we've explored and the best deals to help plan for future holidays.

But we have so much more to say, and each week we struggle to fit it all into one magazine. So, from today, we're branching out and bringing you even more ways to be inspired.

Trip Notes is our brand new Travel podcast, and we'll be releasing a new episode every fortnight. Each episode, I'm joined by Travel Bugs columnist Tim Roxborogh and a special celebrity guest and we talk about everything there is to know about travel — our favourite destinations around the world, tips for being a better traveller, and the things travel has taught us over the years.

Trip Notes is New Zealand Herald Travel's new podcast, brought to you by Intrepid Travel. Photo / Supplied

Our first episode is released today, and you can find it wherever you normally get your podcasts — Apple, iHeart Radio, Sticher, Spotify ... you can even watch a video version online at nzherald.co.nz/tripnotes.

Joining us as our first guest is Daniel Faitaua from TVNZ's Breakfast and One News at Midday. Not only is Daniel an accomplished newsreader, he's also a former Air New Zealand flight attendant, so who better to kick things off with?

In his first job out of university, Daniel flew with Air NZ for more than nine years, working sectors around the country from Auckland to the Deep South.

"There's a glamour behind working at the airport as cabin crew," he says. "Passengers would look at you and think 'Where are they going with their suitcases?', and we'd be like, 'Invercargill! That's where we're going'!"

These were the days when domestic passengers were served a hot meal and bar service, no matter how short the flight. "We were throwing them out while we were climbing," Daniel says.

He's best known as TVNZ's Breakfast newsreader, but Daniel Faitaua (left, with Hayley Holt. John Campbell and Matty McLean) was once an Air New Zealand flight attendant. Photo / Supplied

Now, as a father of three sons, Daniel's travels are mostly focused on family holidays to destinations around New Zealand or across the Ditch to the Gold Coast, but in the podcast, he tells us all about his first trip overseas as a wide-eyed 16-year-old, his time working on a guava plantation in Hawaii, and his dream destinations for future holidays. But, like so many Kiwis, Daniel knows there's no place like home.

"As cheesy as it sounds, you do see some amazing places, but when you come back here, you just think 'Gosh, we're lucky'. There's nothing greater than your Kiwi back yard."

We've got some great guests lined up for future episodes, which will be released every fortnight. Hit subscribe in your podcast store and a new episode will land as soon as it's released, early every second Tuesday.

It's the next best thing to being there.

Subscribe to Trip Notes, Herald Travel's new podcast, at iHeartRadio, Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.