Each fortnight, Trip Notes hosts Stephanie Holmes and Tim Roxborogh are joined by a special guest to talk all about travel. On this episode, we're joined by James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel, who tells us what it's like to be CEO of a global travel company with an annual revenue now well over $400 million. We also chat about his favourite places to travel, and some issues close to his heart. Born in the UK, now based in Melbourne, James has been in the hot seat of Intrepid for more than three years, but has been with the company for more than 14. He says he loved travel from an early age and after starting his career path in investment management he realised "making rich people richer" was "a terrible way to exist professionally". He set out to find a job he was passionate about. "I was most definitely not good enough to play football for the England football team, so I pursued an interest in travel." His first job with Intrepid was as a sales and marketing coordinator, and over the years he's risen through the business, taking on a number of different roles, before becoming the company's first non-founding managing director at the age of 31. Now 38 (he's had a birthday since we recorded this episode!), James is CEO of Intrepid Group. We talk to James about some of the best places he's travelled - both for work and for pleasure - and the incredible experiences he's had over the years. We also talk about the concept of "greenwashing" - what is it, why does it matter, and what do we, as consumers, need to be aware of when booking holidays and travel experiences. Once you've listened, please leave us a review and tell us some of your favourite destinations - we'd love to know where you're travelling, and where you're dreaming of. For more travel inspiration go to https://www.nzherald.co.nz/tripnotes and, when you're ready for your own adventure, go to https://www.intrepidtravel.com. You can reach Stephanie Holmes at https://www.instagram.com/holmesstephanie or https://www.twitter.com/holmesstephanie, and Tim Roxborogh at https://www.instagram.com/timroxborogh or https://www.facebook.com/timroxborogh