Last night the annual Travolution Awards ceremony took place at the luxurious Dorchester, and STA Travel left the proceedings at the close gleefully clutching the Award for Best Use of Social Media.

“Once again, STA Travel is a leading light in this area, ensuring that it engages people in as many of the relevant channels to its target audience as possible. Most importantly, customers engage with one another AND the brand.”

Did you notice the ‘once again’, yup; we won it last year too! As a big part of what STA Travel do within the online social space, we’re delighted about this and hope you are to as we couldn’t have done it without you! So a big thanks to all those that have got involved with all the things we’ve done, from the meet-ups to the 30^th birthday celebrations, whether an STA Explorer or travel pal of Travelbuzz – Thanks!

Obviously we’re looking to continue this upward trend and we’ve got a few big plans in the STA Travelbuzz pipeline, so if you want to get involved then simply send an email or drop us a tweet, we’d love to meet you.

*update* After re-reading this morning I thought I should also mention STA Travel won it the year before last, making this one our hat-trick

STA Explorer the Travelteer, also known to many as Sara, is considering her decision to head to Africa.

In her post ‘Is this really a good idea?’ Sara tells of the escapades that befell her during the last official leaving do, a heady night in Oxford. Involving dares, piggy backs from strangers, attacking her boyfriend with a rose and 92 (or 9) shots of sambuca, the evening was nothing if not eventful. However, the loss (theft) of her wallet and the breaking of her camera and shoe got her thinking,

“Is me travelling on my own for five months really a good idea when I can’t even get through a night out in Oxford in one piece!”

Sara I’m sure you’ll be fine; and besides, you did get through your night in Oxford, just a little worse for wear. Last night also saw The Wandering Warburton’s last leaving bash…

As no doubt discussed at the last STA travelbuzz meet-up, there are a whole host of magnificent tourist attractions that tower above the antipodean landscape. Not many of them however are as impressive as The Twelve Apostles - a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Their proximity to one another has made them a must-see, and what better way to take in this magnificent sight than via air.

Krew122 of YouTube has done just that – and whatsmore has very kindly decided to share his experience with everyone, prompting several positive comments, temasparapiano suggesting it’s a “nice video”, whilst SonOfAGun1984 promising “One day I’ll be there..”

If swanky hotels and the standard tourist paradise hotspots aren’t for you, you might be interested in talking a look at the latest tourist craze to sweep Kenya; Slum Tourism. Critics suggest that it puts ‘residents on parade like animals in a zoo’, but there’s no doubt that the £20 guided walks around Nairobi’s open-sewer streets are proving extremely popular. Martin Oduor, a local tour guide suggests

“The aim is to humanise residents, not degrade them. We want to demystify this place, that it is so dangerous and sad. People are poor, but they have normal lives.”

A gripping description of the entire tour is available over on this Guardian article that talks of the new tourist trade… And although feelings seem mixed amongst the community – it cannot be argued that donations, and extra money into the local community that the affluent tourist bring is desperately needed. But what is the effect of this very social tourism?

“[one visitor], who had come to Kenya via Egypt, said that he would remember Kibera as a place of hope. ‘This made more of an impression on me than the pyramids of Giza’ he said.”

Inspiring or exploitative – let us know what you think…

September’s STA Travelbuzz meet-up went off last Thursday with a distinctly Australian theme. Hosted in our very own London digs this time, guests were treated to refreshments and snacks in the form of Shapes, TimTams and Victoria Bitter as soon as they arrived.

As the evening went on we dived into the social media side of what we do more than on previous occasions, illustrating the joy of Twitter and setting up accounts for those who had not yet tried the tool of choice for those who like their communication in 140 characters or less. In-keeping with our Oz theme, winners of STA Travel’s £10 Pom 2009 (and friends of Travelbuzz) attended, and as usual they were as lively as ever. It’s not long until they all leave… How we’re going to miss @alice_walkabout and @mia914. We also met Robert, a travel writer for Lonely Planet in the past, and hopefully he’ll be fulfilling some guest post action for us.

Speaking on behalf of STA Travel, and an authentic Aussie, was Saxon who did a sterling job of passing on a wealth of knowledge about his home country and answering the questions that were fired at him. There was also some voxpops created of people seeking advice through the medium of our ‘Twitter board’. These are all on the YouTube channel and we have video responses coming from STA Travel expert on Aus, Claire from the STA Travel Brighton Store. Finally a quick ‘hurrah’ for our STA Explorer, Ramblin’ Rucksack Man, Dylan who has been nominated for Travel Writer of the Year in the Guardian Student Media Awards.

Everyone left the evening more clued up on Australia, STA Travel, the role of STA Travelbuzz and furnished with a piece of STA Travel 30^th birthday cake (and a few Aussie snacks to boot). Thanks to everyone who came along and helped make the evening a success, and if you want to come along next time just get in touch with Cam via email or @statravelbuzz and we’ll give you all the details you need!

John Hooper at the Guardian has asked the question where does the truth lie in travel writing.

It seems that in the past those who document their trips have not been the most honest and now, with the all encompassing fact checking might of the internet, where does this leave the future of the embellished travel journal.

This isn’t always about ‘lies’ in the deceiving sense, but about stories being told, one person to another, as acquaintances are made and tales are shared on the dusty roads and high seas. Hooper explains,

“Introducing ‘colour’, altering the sequence of events to make a book or article ‘flow’, exaggeration, invention and downright lying all have a history in the chronicling of travel that goes back at least as far as the ancient mariners who told stories of sirens and sea monsters.”

Its intriguing stuff and something that anyone who writes about travel must take into consideration (Explorers I hope you’re reading ) – where does the line between fact and fiction lie when it comes to enthusing a-would-be traveller to sling on a rucksack and start crossing some borders?

Andy our Scientist Studying the World has already given his answer to the question we posed in line with STA Travel’s 30th birthday and therefore 30 years of experience - ‘how has travel changed over the last 30 years?’ Now it is the turn of The Wandering Warburtons to give their thoughts, who have, as you can probably tell by the piccy, just got back from Pisa!

Andy plays the ‘I’m too young to answer this question’ card early,

“As a 27 year old, I’m probably not as well placed as some to answer this question, but I can remember going abroad was a much bigger deal when I was younger, compared to now. From what I recall in the 80s package holidays were the norm, that is hotel, flights and transfers all in one deal – usually to a limited number of destinations.”

Andy notes that now hopping on a plane is a relatively easy process, so much so that trips between cities in the UK can in some cases cost less then heading along the ground. The other point, and one that he agrees with Andy on, is that music has become an almost essential part travel. He mentions that travelling without his iPhone is unthinkable,

“So much functionality in one little device. It even allows me to save money on calls by using Skype from a wifi network to ring home for practically nothing! What more could you want from a device?”

Thanks for your thoughts Andy. With two out of two mentioning music I’m beginning to think we should incorporate it into the next meet-up some how? If you have suggestions on this and/or more thoughts on the changing ways in which we travel let us know.