William Gray is a 40-year-old, award-winning travel writer, photographer and father of twins. He was invited by the BBC to present family travel pieces for the 2006 series of its flagship Holiday programme (attracting over five million viewers). William is also a regular contributor to Wanderlust, The Sunday Times Travel magazine and numerous other national and international publications.
A member of the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) and winner of the AITO Travel Writer of the Year 2002 award, William wroteTravel with Kids - The definitive guide to family holidays worldwide, published by Footprint in October 2007 and winner of the BGTW Guidebook of the Year award in 2008. At the age of 23, his first book, Coral Reefs & Islands: The Natural History of a Threatened Paradise (David & Charles) was highly commended in the Conservation Book Prize, and acclaimed by Jonathan Porritt as “A truly impressive piece of work, as hard-hitting in its text as it is beautiful in its photographs.” His most recent book, Britain with Kids was published in September 2009.
A sought-after photographer, William supplies images to several leading agencies. His slide talks about conservation and life as a travel writer have been enjoyed by clubs throughout the UK. In 1995 he accompanied Patrick Lichfield as guest lecturer on the Oriana’s maiden Atlantic crossing. William is also a regular panelist at the Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel Show where he fields questions on photojournalism.
He is married to Sally, an educational editor and author. Their eight-year-old twins, Joseph and Eleanor, have totted up over 350 hours flying time, investigated the electrical hazards of over 50 hotel rooms, thrown up in six different car seats, trekked through the Atlas Mountains, kayaked in New Zealand and made fire with the Bushmen of eastern Namibia.
Specialist areas
Family travel: author of Travel with Kids (worldwide), Britain with Kids and Cornwall with Kids Wildlife travel Adventure travel Safaris
Ecotourism Conservation holidays National parks
Photography
Africa Coral reefs Islands
How to be a travel writer How to be a travel photographer
At a Glance
Award-winning writer Winner of 2002 AITO Travel Writer of the Year award (and runner-up in 2003 and 1999); Cacique International Travel Writer of the Year (2003); runner-up BBC Wildlife magazine Travel Writing Awards (2002) and winner of six British Guild of Travel Writer’s awards (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005, 2006 and 2007).
Family travel specialist Father of eight-year-old twins; family travel columnist for Wanderlust magazine; regular contributor to The Sunday Times and sole author of Travel with Kids, Britain with Kids and Cornwall with Kids.
William made his TV debut as a presenter on the 2005/2006 series of Holiday (BBC1), where he covered family destinations ranging from Amsterdam to Brazil
Zoologist & conservationist Qualified zoologist; author of Coral Reefs & Islands:The Natural History of a Threatened Paradise (David & Charles 1993, commended in the Conservation Book Prize); patron of Coral Cay Conservation; specialist knowledge of wildlife, conservation and ecotourism.
Author and photographer Adventure Travel (AA 2008); Zambia and Victoria Falls (Globetrotter 2003); Athens (Globetrotter 2004); AdventureTravellers:Southern Africa (AA 2001); Top Islands of the World (New Holland 2005). Award-winning photographer promoted by Alamy, Photolibrary, TravelInk and John Warburton-Lee Photography agencies
