Jill Starley-Grainger

Former Which? Travel magazine editor and commissioning editor of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Jill has also written on luxury travel for numerous UK and international newspapers, magazines and websites, including Conde Nast Traveller, The Sunday Times, Jetsetter and City AM. If she's not at home in London, you'll likely find her travelling through the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa or Japan. With years of travel-industry experience, she's garnered extensive insights on topics like how to make every trip better, whether that's getting better value-for-money or making the best choices for travel tech, apps and hotels. As if that weren't enough, Jill also has an interest in green issues, particularly related to luxury travel.

Top travel memory: "On a significant birthday, I arrived at a game reserve in South Africa just in the nick of time to hop in a jeep for a late-afternoon game drive. It was my first safari, and I had no idea what to expect. After exploring the bush for several hours, snapping photos of springbok and zebras, our ranger went bounding through the bush to reach a hilltop in time for drinks at sundown. But as we were about to climb the hill to follow, a herd of 20 elephants suddenly appeared along the ridge, the sun setting behind them and framing their silhouettes like a painting. We watched as they clambered down the hill, knocking down trees as if stepping on grass, then nonchalantly walked straight at our jeep. The elephants all ignored us as they stomped past, except an inquisitive teen, who stuck his trunk inside, sniffed my head, then relieved himself on the jeep's tyres before moving on! It was pretty clear what he thought of me, but I didn't care – it was the best birthday present I could have asked for".