Welcome to eye-traveller: a compendium of travel stories compiled by journalist Lesley Gillilan and photographer/film-maker Dave Young. We’ve been knocking around together for over 20 years and as we have always recorded our travels one way or another (in reviews, articles, films and photography) we thought it was about time we put it all together in one place and shared our experiences with others.
The range of tried and tested destinations can be a bit random: from Spanish caves (we like caves) and South Indian plantation houses to Cornish mining heritage, Scottish island hopping, assorted accommodation round-ups (mostly in the UK), lots of seaside (this is us, above, being silly on the Isles of Scilly) and quite a lot of Bristol (we live there). We have a fairly loose interpretation of what ‘travel’ means: we think that short films on Isle of Harris tweed weavers, Keralan rubber planters or River Fal oyster fishermen have a place here (if they are not here now, watch this space).
What binds all our content is honesty, professionalism, in-depth knowledge and great images (when Dave takes them – Lesley does her best). What you won’t find here is shoddy writing and endless selfies (okay, there are a few of the latter, but we think the views from, say, Clifton Suspension Bridge or the Empire State Building are a lot better looking than we are). Some of our new content is based on old trips, but we always take the trouble to update the nitty gritty details (like how the place fares in the world of Covid). For more About Us, see below…
Journalist Lesley Gillilan has worked for most of the UK’s national newspapers (Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent, Observer); she has written hotel reviews for i-escape, Hotelegraph and Conde Nast Traveller; and, as a long-standing contributor to Coast Magazine, has covered almost every inch of the British seaside. For over three years, she was press officer for Visit Bristol (hence we have dedicated a whole section to the city). She is author of the Best of Britain guide to Cornwall and has an MA in Creative Writing. There is a novel, too (a work in progress).
Big into: Cornwall (she was born there), cave dwellings, architecture, yoga, Tom Petty, and anything sparkly (including wine).
Dave Young started his career in the Royal Marines, followed by a stint as a commercial diver and a year or two of travelling around Australia on a motorbike. After studying an MA in documentary photography, he worked for the print media (Time, Guardian, Independent, Conde Nast Traveller) as well as for corporate and advertising clients. Then Dave moved into TV documentaries and is now a full-time film-maker working mostly for Channel 4 News. His contribution to the show’s Breadline Britain series won him a Royal Television Society award in 2020.
Big into: Road bikes, cycling up steep hills, Bruce Springsteen, cinematography, IPA beers.
Work with us…
As well as reviewing hotels, reporting on destinations, keeping readers informed on travel news and developments and all the usual blogging-vlogging stuff, we are experienced content creators: producing words, photography and film for a variety of media from traditional print and broadcast to online platforms (including websites for hotels, visitor attractions, tour operators and destination management organisations). If you like what we do here, get in touch.
Contact us…
We are waiting to install eye-traveller addresses, but for now if you want to get in touch to comment, share news or discuss content, email us via lesley@podfilms.tv.
