David Pillinger was born in St Helier’s Hospital, Carshalton, about ten miles from the River Thames in South West London. A large white monolith of a structure, the Germans had used it as a landmark to guide them towards bombing the docks and other strategic targets in London during World War Two.

His first memory of a fascination for travel and all things different was as a young boy paging through his parents’ coffee table Atlas of the World and being beguiled by the word ‘Montevideo’, capital of Uruguay on the mouth of the River Plate in oh-so-far-away-I-hope-to-visit-someday South America. And then the eternal flame of his dromomania, the obsession with travel, was irreversibly sparked into life when he visited West Germany in 1981 with his beloved maternal Grandmother, Norah, and a whole coachload of fun-loving octogenarians. Slipping out of the Rhine Hotel in Andernach on the west bank of the great European river at 2am one morning, the curious 16 year-old, with only a school trip to Le Touquet in France on his travel totem pole, was exhilarated by the sense of freedom. And then he saw the large, silent tankers cruising in the gloomy light, heading north and south on that legendary swathe of water. Where are they going? Where have they been? Bang! At that very moment, young David wanted to see it all!

He was fortunate enough to land an editing position with local sports agency Allsport in 1982 and took his first flight, on a Lear jet, to Sarajevo in Yugoslavia for the 1984 Winter Olympics. Months later he was in Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics. And so began a 37 year career in the media that has taken him to six continents (72 countries) to either edit or sell photography or simply explore for Allsport, Getty Images, Corbis and Reuters.

Favourite first impression memories?

The absolutely stunning Taj Mahal just before sunrise in Agra, India.

The truly awesome Grand Canyon, USA before sunrise from the Bright Angel trail.

The overwhelming and bombastic majesty of the Iguacu Falls in Argentina and Brazil.

The improbability of the pyramids looming out of the desert at Giza just blocks from the chaos of Cairo, Egypt.

David is now the publisher of Southside Living magazine in Bellingham, WA, USA and the Division Leader for Best Version Media in Washington State, Alaska, Idaho and Montana.

David has shared his love of life and travel with his son, Sidney, and each year they visit family in Europe. His plans for semi-retirement include a base in Andalucia, southern Spain and driving a Vee-Dub Kombi languidly around Europe.

And in 2011 David did make it to Montevideo in Uruguay!