Gadget Boy Goes Global has wound his way to Bermuda where he has been making his directorial debut…

If you want to know why then read his post, aptly titled Soapy.

Less shower and Evian orientated, the information spewing forth on Bermuda suggests that the place is for the suave, what with Tim taking advantage of the art world:

“…we’ve attended two gallery openings and survived two nights on a diet of mini nibbles off silver trays and champagne.”

Good work! For more on his extravagant/sophis Bermuda behaviour click here…

The reliably witty Andrew (who in his capacity as STA Explorer goes by the less than pithy but undeniably informative moniker 7 months, 12 countries),  has reached the Chinese stage of his round the world trip through India, Asia and South America. And he’s already causing merry mayhem, with plenty of advice on his blog for travellers on what NOT to do while you’re there.

Top of the list is don’t spend the night on the Great Wall of China:

we spend most of the night marching back and forward like border guards along a 20 metre stretch which we thought we couldn’t fall off to try and keep warm. earlier on we tried our best to avoid drawing attention to ourselves in case we ended up in a gulag. from midnight onwards we attempted to start a fire in the hope of ending up in one of them

Another top tip is don’t visit Mongolia on a national holiday:

bus to chinese border town - 15 hours. sleep in odd hotel - 5 hours. time to cross the most messed up border in the world to Zamen Uud - 7 hours. Being told there are no trains to Ulaan Bator or back to beijing - priceless

Although having to sleep in the taxi driver’s yurt with sheep milk curds for supper may not be the height of luxury, it’s nothing if not authentic. Andrew is apparently now spending his time exploring Beijing and ‘taking the piss out of mao loudly’. Oh dear. I have a feeling that another post with a title very similar to the above may be coming pretty soon.

George’s 9 week Australian adventure has drawn to a close and she’s heading back home - but not before she writes a final - and typically funny, quirky and enthusiastic - post summarising her final few days in Alice Springs.

Highlights include an Indigenous Dinner, where they are priviledged to witness traiditional Aboriginal dancing and get an insight into their history, culture, artwork and Dreaming religion. They also take the 2 day, 3 night Wayoutback Safari, including sunrise over Ayers Rock and a hike through King’s Canyon.

It’s a typical update from George and her travel buddy Claire, who have packed their Ozzie trip with all the big attractions (and some more unexpected ones). They’ve mixed some big STA Travel tours with some exploring on their own, and so their blog is a brilliant resource for anyone searching for the highs and lows of all the different experiences on offer.

Previous posts include their visit to the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsunday Islands and the rainforest; camping on Fraser Island; taking the Oz Experience adventure tour along the coast; campervanning along the Great Ocean Road and much, much more - all replayed in their inimitible style!

So although the girls’ trip may have come to an end, it will still live on in their blog as a treasure trove of tips and tales for fellow STA travellers and Australian visitors. And they’ve promised that the next time they travel, they’ll do the same - so we’ll keep you updated!

STA Explorer Isobel Jones has discovered the just how useful a head torch can be. Now a month and a half into her nine month stay in Nepal, where she is studying Buddhism in a monastery in Boudhanath, Isobel is doing a brilliant job of updating her blog despite the Nepal Electrcity company ‘load shedding’ - cutting the power - for 35 hours a week (and rising). Describing how difficult it can make life in her post ‘It’s all gone dark’, Isobel, advises:

if you are coming here to lovely Nepal anytime soon (and it is lovely when you can see it), bring a head torch and probably a wind-up torch as well (and if they do wind-up head torches now, bring one of those! )

Despite this, she’s posted another update on her past weeks, where she’s achieved a number of firsts, including: her first lessons with Tibetan tutor Sonam; her first purchase of a traditional Madal drum (and of getting ripped off in the process); her first fluent sentence spoken in Tibetan; and her first experience of a Bandh, a dramatic strike by local people - a pre-democracy ploy to get their voice heard, which remains their method of complaining about how the country is run. She’s always happy for a bit of conversation so go and post a comment or a question to find out more about acclimatising in this country that she ‘really, really’ loves.

Ah, the holiday romance. All too often it involves a regrettable and sweaty clinch with a prematurely mustachioed waiter in an all-inclusive resort at the age of 15, a far cry from  the ‘dancing in a river with Patrick Swayze’ fantasy.

Which is why the latest video from Dave, the UK contestant on Bebo’s The Gap Year (here and below), the interactive travel reality show, is so… well… ahhhhh. On an STA Travel tour of the stunning, sun-sea-n-sand Whitsunday islands, amongst a group of scantily clad young fellow STA travellers, Dave ‘has a moment’ (or 2) with German lass Janina, widely considered to be ‘the hottest girl on the island’. As they frolick in the surf, it looks like this could be the start of something beautiful.

Of course, as soon as the tour finishes, Dave is wrenched from his lady love to continue his worldwide travels. And is quickly ensconced in a Melbourne bar with an old mate, downing jaeger bombs and generally having a whale of a time. Men, eh? One things for sure: he’s having one hell of an eventful journey. Check out the Bebo page to see his latest escapades and even help control his fate.

STA deals often spread through word of mouth, which is a beautiful thing, but also sometimes means that you can miss out on some nice little offers if you don’t happen to have your ear to the right grapevine.

So I see it as only my human duty to let slip that they’ve recently been making themselves that bit more popular at Freshers Fairs by offering anyone who books a journey on Emirates airlines a free STA cash card loaded with some complimentary dosh.

The offer (which went live on the 11th) is only available if you ask for it in branches or phone them up, so get a part of the action if you were thinking of booking a trip soon. And if you do take it up, let us know if  the STA cash card makes a big difference to your travels.

Young STA Explorer Emma  is travelling the world all by herself, so she knows better than most the need to be prepared and deal quickly with any difficulties that crop up along the way.

So she needed her wits about her when she found herself:

in singapore. I’m in my hostel. I can’t get into my hostel room though because the STA branch didn’t give me a copy of my voucher…and they won’t accept any other proof of payment

Emma describes how she solved the dilemma, phoning round until she found a branch open in Glasgow, where she explained the situation and got the voicher emailed to her. But it’s a good reminder to ask an STA agent to double check they’ve given you all the relevant vouchers and documents before you set off, and store them safely and sequentially. Evidently, if you’ve pre-booked a hostel, it could be the only way to be sure you’ll get in.

Emma’s now having a blast in Chiang Mai, so head to her LiveJournal to get inspired to go solo in Thailand.