TravMedia Meets – JRNY!

Kav Dadfar is the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of JRNY Travel Magazine and JRNY America, overseeing the editorial direction of both award-winning titles. He has played a central role in shaping JRNY into a premium travel publication, known for its long-form journalism, striking photography and thoughtful, high-quality storytelling that treats travel as something to be understood, not simply consumed.

Alongside JRNY, Kav also leads JRNY's ever-expanding digital outputs as well as JRNY America, a dedicated print title focused entirely on travel in the United States, helping to establish it as a distinctive voice in the UK market. His work across both magazines is driven by a commitment to depth, originality and strong visual storytelling, with a focus on creating print publications that feel collectable, intelligent and editorially rich.

As both an editor and an accomplished travel photographer, he brings a clear creative vision to every issue, championing stories that go beyond the expected and resonate with curious, engaged, affluent readers.

Lauren Jarvis is the Editor of JRNY Travel Magazine, overseeing the editorial content and commissioning, editing and writing copy for the award-winning magazine.

With more than 25 years' experience in consumer, B2B and contract publishing, Lauren has launched and edited a range of titles, including magazines for international brands National Geographic and Disney.

As an award-winning freelance editor and writer, she contributes to some of the UK’s top travel and lifestyle publications, newspapers and websites, including Breathe, Selling Travel, The Independent, Metro and more. With a special interest in wildlife, conservation, nature, sustainability and adventure, Lauren has travelled extensively on assignment across all seven continents, and taken on challenges including trekking to Everest Base Camp, canoeing the Yukon River, and hiking and driving some of Australia’s most epic off-road tracks through the Outback.

A committed member of the UK’s travel community, she organises networking events throughout the year with JRNY colleague, Simon Willmore, and has mentored aspiring travel writers through the Talking Travel Writing Mentorship Scheme. Her book, Lumberjack: Adventure is Calling – The History, The Lore, The Life, is out now.

James edits, commissions and shapes the editorial direction of the award-winning JRNY America magazine. He also writes news and features for JRNY America and JRNY.

He is passionate about platforming writers and stories from underrepresented communities.

Specialising in adventure, wildlife, indigenous communities, nature and conservation, James has explored 116 countries and territories, seven continents and 45 US states. His work appears in 50+ English-language publications, including Condé Nast Traveller, National Geographic, Wanderlust, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, Die Zeit, and many more. He is also a panellist and public speaker.

His writing was selected for the anthology publication The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century, and also appears in five English revision textbooks, alongside the works of Charles Dickens, Sir John Betjeman and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

He has won over a dozen awards as a journalist – but none as a photographer.

He is currently working on his first book for Bloomsbury, The Nocturnal Traveller.

Si Willmore is Head of Digital, working across both JRNY Travel Magazine and JRNY America, and the longest-serving member of the team besides the founders. Under his leadership, the JRNY website (jrnymag.com) receives over 1.3m page views a month.

Simon is also Sub-Editor of JRNY Travel Magazine, helping to shape the editorial content each issue alongside Lauren and Kav, and he’s currently Acting Editor of JRNY America, commissioning, editing and writing content for the magazine.

An award-winning journalist, editor and broadcaster, Simon has worked for top media brands including National Geographic Traveller, The Times, Rough Guides, Wanderlust and Bradt Guides, and talks regularly at travel events, having appeared on stage at WTM and Traverse, among others.

Co-Editor of the best-selling anthology, The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century, Simon remains the youngest-ever Chairman of the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW), serving from 2019 until 2022. He is the current BGTW Broadcaster of the Year, awarded for his work presenting the JRNY podcast, which has received over 120,000 downloads.

Henry’s an entrepreneur with over 40 years’ industry experience, his career commencing in travel PR in 1984. Following seven years as a travel writer he created travel PR company Rooster, which has since evolved into a successful multi-sector agency. 

Henry launched TravMedia UK in 2003, as a joint venture with the site’s CEO and founder Nick Wayland, helping establish a leading UK and global community for travel journalists and PR professionals. Following that he launched News4Media and its sites Property4Media and Homes4Media.

In 2013, TravMedia UK launched IMM, which quickly became the premier global annual event for the travel industry to meet the media. In 2024 Henry sold his interests in TravMedia UK and News4Media to TravMedia CEO Nick Wayland, remaining as a consultant to the companies.

Henry lives in East Sussex, is a photographer and non-exec director, and is beginning to appear on YouTube channels to discuss music loves including The Beatles and Postpunk.