Dave Stamboulis has been pursuing travel and photography in the remote places in the world for 25 years. Born in Athens, Greece, Dave grew up in Berkeley, California, and has called Kathmandu, the Japan Alps, and the Pacific Northwest home before finally 'settling' in his home-from-the-road base in Bangkok, Thailand. His earlier journeys were just for the need of exploring different places and ways of life, and to attempt to quiet an insatiable sense of wanderlust, whereas later trips became the means of a livelihood, as a photojournalist, and as a way of sharing the many fabulous stories out there waiting to be told.
From 1992 until 2000, Dave spent 7 years riding a bicycle 45,000 kilometres around the world, subsequently publishing a book about his travels entitled Odysseus' Last Stand: The Chronicles of a Bicycle Nomad, which received the Silver Medal Award from the Society of American Travel Writers in 2006 for Travel Book of the Year. The journey, which took Dave from the mountains of Japan, across the Himalayas and Indian Subcontinent, and then across Central Asia, convinced him that the traditional way of life being lived by millions of people in the world was at an extreme risk of disappearing, and that it needed preservation in any form so as not to lose touch with whom we really are.
Following this, Dave focused his photojournalism efforts on ethnic minorities and festivals in some of the world's more remote places, visiting tribal areas in Ethiopia, high altitude deserts in Bolivia, and hidden spots in the rainforests of Borneo amongst others. Dave's work has appeared often in The Bangkok Post and the Nation, Thailand's two premier English language newspapers, as well as in high profile magazines throughout S E Asia such as Fah Thai, Sawaddi, Untamed Travel, Tom Yum, and Metro, and his photos have been featured on guidebook covers (Viva Travel Guides Peru) and sold through stock agencies throughout the world.
In addition to cycling, Dave often travels on foot or by kayak, and his adventures have included a short career as an alpine mountaineer. When asked what the secret to taking good photos is, Stamboulis often replies, 'if you go to enough interesting places, put yourself into enough interesting and unusual angles, and take enough photos, eventually a few of them will turn out pretty well.