TripWolf are after your travel stories and in return you may receive a Flip MinoHD! They’re looking for the details of those ‘only in…’ moments that occur while crossing the globe. I feel I have a suitable example anecdote.

While in the US I asked this old American dude if the antlers mounted on the back of his lake house were from a beast he had killed. He turned to me and answered with a swift ‘yup’. A pause ensued as I took in the size of the mounted horns, they were big. He lent a little closer to me and said quietly, ‘with a bow an arrow’. Only in Arkansas.

To find out how to enter head to the TripWolf competition page as it has all the required details and dates. They’ll be whittling down entries to their three favourites that will then be posted on TripWolf for site users to vote on.

You know that story you’re always tell about being in Prague? It could be worth a Flip MinoHD!

Tim has been busy updating away with some grand stuff. As our go-to STA Explorer when it comes to the technology assisted side of travelling, his first of four updates is particularly fitting.

Going Native demonstrates how deserving of this status he is. After the loss of numerous socket converters and power supplies Tim was without iPod speakers:

“I headed off to the market and, just between the fish heads and unidentified miscellaneous meat isles in Hoi An market managed to find some electrical parts.”

Some intricate wiring later and ‘silent nights’ were a thing of the past!

His other three posts are full of joys such as water puppets, expensive under-crackers and The Dog Meat Market – it was actually marked on Tim’s map as such! For the explanatory details on all this head to Random Projects.

Our STA Explorer’s Bex and Mike are underway!

Manning a blog each means there is going to be dual perspectives a plenty. This has already occurred with their arrival in Ghana, both parties covering the time they’ve spent there so far. Bex even decides to let Mike cover Ethiopa:

“I think I’m going to leave out Ethiopia as it seems so long ago and there is so much to fit in about Ghana. Mike will have lots of details on it though I’m sure.”

Bex’s Ghana thoughts are here and Mike’s here, although both mention the volunteering at the Orphanage, Mike has written a dedicated piece on it. Included, among many other things, is his concern at being a ‘walking cliché’ for the content of a music lesson they lead:

“Beki and I taught them ‘Let it Be’ by the Beatles and by the end of the lesson 40 or so children were singing along to the chorus.”

To get the entire lowdown on where our Volunteering and Chilling pair are up to, be sure to check Bex’s Travels and Mike’s Around the World in 6 Months. Also, does this Explorer name get anyone else humming the Fresh Prince theme tune…

Isla’s made it to Hanoi and has been taking in its delights. Things began with deceitful taxi drivers! It seems this is an ever present danger. Instead of arriving at where she was hoping to, Isla was ditched at the Gold Star Hotel… As it turned out it was,

“… clean, safe, reasonably priced, well located and [full of friendly staff]. Also, I have this massive double bed that is the comfiest thing I have slept in since Scotland. So yeah, it works out really well, but I’m still disappointed by the deceit.”

Besides partying at a world heritage site, Isla has taken a boat trip around Halong Bay, visited Hoa Lo prison, seen Ba Dinh Square and experienced the Ho Chi Minh museum. For more details click through – also, does anyone know who the ancient actor was?

There are also a couple of snippet posts that Isla has written. One titled Oops that outlines the reasons for a day ‘curtailed’ of sight seeing and another on not speaking Spanish. Both are well worth a read…

Hong Kong is a city of visuals, from the vivacious markets to the symphony of light. What better way then of sucking in its splendour than with a selection of photographs from our STA Explorer the Tai Pan Does Indonesia!

You can see all of Stu’s (Our Travelling Tai Pan) images here. They include temples, souvenirs, sky-scrapers and parks. Also there is a splendid picture of a Bruce Lee statue cutting a majestic figure (see above and left) in front of the Hong Kong skyline – “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup… Be water my friend.”

Over at The Student Room contributor CaptainFishBowl is looking for something more exciting to fill his vacation time that sitting around watching Jeremy Kyle. To not do things by half he’s plumped for solo skydiving!

Concerned that his pool of friends is unlikely to contain anyone wanting to throw themselves to earth from the backend of a plane, CaptainFishBowl is asking for a partner.

“I know none of my friends would be willing to do this, and I worried that if I don’t find someone to go with I’ll never do it. So what I’m asking is, does anyone want to learn to skydive but never got round to doing it? Please get back to me soon, as I wish to book in the next week or so.”

There have been a few interested parties, but cash flow is an issue and timings aren’t syncing. Step in nicky507,

“I *really* want to do something like this, but again it wouldn’t be possible until summer :S I hope you find someone so you can go!!!! If not go by yourself, or perhaps look on the STA website for organised trips? Have fun! :)”

Not a bad idea at all… And, it almost goes without saying, if you’re the type who’s looking to reach terminal velocity ‘jump’ in and offer your services!

A little bit of a break from the norm, but the sketches freelance illustrator Scott Fraser has produced for an STA Travel TV ad are more than worthy of a slight broadening of horizons.

The work was done to appear as if someone was flipping through a sketchbook that had illustrations of their time touring through the UK, Asia and USA. Scott found the brief liberating;

“The fun thing about this job was I had to do imperfect sketchy style drawings. Quite freeing.”

You can read his thoughts and see a few of the images on his Livejournal blog as well as on his Flickr account. Maybe you’ve even seen the ad? Let us know…