A SOLENT University lecturer, who films his family’s trips around the world, has won a prestigious national award.

David Reilly’s YouTube channel ‘Life of Reilly’ picked up the ‘Vlogger of the Year’ prize at the Travel Media Awards 2021 on Monday 18 October.

The awards have been described as the ‘Oscars of the Travel Media industry’ and national newspapers, magazines and broadcasters battle it out every year to win an award.

David, who is a senior lecturer in sports journalism, said: “This is the second time we’ve won this award but it feels just as special – and it’s certainly as much of a shock.

“Our category put us against some really established content creators, who’ve got major followings online, so we were honestly just excited to be nominated alongside them.”

The ‘Life of Reilly’ YouTube channel offers practical tips from the Reilly family, who are TV producer, David, swim teacher Alicia and their children, Dylan (10), Samantha (8) and Jude (3).

David said: “I have 20 years of experience as a TV reporter and producer but YouTube is a totally different beast.

“I’m learning so much through this travel channel and I’m passing it all onto my students because there are so many jobs in content creation – it’s the future.

“I also hope it inspires a few of them to start their own YouTube channels as it’s a great way to carve out an audience for yourself and show employers what you can do.”

Alicia Reilly said: “It’s been a rough few years for everyone but it’s been extra difficult to keep a travel vlog going during a pandemic, where the world is told to stay at home.

“Luckily, we still had some videos from a recent trip which we could edit but we also made a Lockdown special with home-school and family tips, including advice from a local headteacher.”

The Reillys have been filming their adventures since 2016 and their videos have been seen by more than 1.7 million people.

Giles Harper, co-founder of the Travel Media Awards, said: “We’re very proud of the number and quality of entries to the 2021 Travel Media Awards, particularly in light of the significant challenges of the past two years.”