STA Explorer George has finally arrived in Oz (despite nearly being detained thanks to a mouldy apple in the bottom of her travel buddy Claire’s bag) and has posted an update about their first week exploring around Adelaide.

The girls go into great detail about the hostels they stay at, as well as the tours they take. They particularly loved the ‘absolutely wicked amazing tour’ around Kangaroo Island, where they got to cuddle a joey called Millie, chill with the sealions in Sea Bay, sandboard at Little Sahare, spot baby penguins at night in Vivonne Bay and hike in Flinders Chase National Park (it makes me feel knackered just writing this!)

However, they do have a reminder that our summer is their winter:

Australia is not hot, it is not all sun and bright skies. Adelaide is cold and dreary …We have our hats our A$10 fleaces, gloves and wet soggy uggs boots - which are NOT cool here, aussies wear uggs as slippers so we do get some looks sent our way…

But they take refuge in wine, toasted marshmallows and layering, not to mention the occasional nice meal. The girls may be hardy adventurers, but they don’t believe in backpacker snobbery:

George asked some of the guys on the tour ‘are there any nice restaurants around the Adelaide Festival Centre?’ much to the shock of all the others, their response was ‘backpackers don’t eat in restaurants, but we can tell you where to buy cheap food!’ haha, we never asked again! Yes ok, we are splashing out but dam it we’ve worked hard for this all year so deserve to!! nice restaurant for lunch and dinner, why not?!!

Ask them questions, give them suggestions, and generally enjoy more of their Aussie adventures here.

STA Explorers Meg and Mojo have hit their first destination Madrid, and their series of blog posts about their four days spent in the city is an absolute must-read for anyone thinking of interrailing around Europe. With detailed descriptions of their experiences and discoveries each day, Epic Interrailing Romp contains a host of tips and insights into the hostels they stayed at, the places they ate and the attractions they rate, such as the Prado and Botanic Gardens.

Fellow interrailers will find their advice on navigating the local ‘fabulous, sleek and modern’ train services invaluable, such as this little nugget:

It’s definitely advisable to book your tickets on arrival in the train station, or if like us you don’t arrive by train then make an excursion there a day or two before you want to depart. You never know if the train will have space, if you will need to wait a long time, or if you will simply be unable to find where you need to go. And the best advice is if you are ever in doubt, ask someone.

It’s great that they’re finding time to blog such useful tips, what with their ‘drag-queen and jack daniels infused’ evenings (!) - so make the most of it and follow their blog.

OK this might be a bit cheeky but the lovely stubbly Tom at STA Travel has given me the go-ahead to spread the love, so spread it I shall, like a great benign muck-spreader spreading droplets of joy to irrigate our parched lives.

Whatever. Basically, STA are offering a time-limited 15% friends and family discount on tours, accommodation and insurance this summer, and, as we’re all one big happy STA travelbuzz family, we’re sharing it with you here - and feel free to pass it on to any fellow travellers too.

Oh, really, stop. My clothes are getting soggy with your droplets of joy.

Hong Kong: glistening modern mecca of consumerist splendour, right? But what happens if you’ve got a bad case of the credit crunches and still want to make the most of your stay on this unique island? Well, you read this damned helpful post, is what you do. Because we’ve plucked a common query from the Travellers Point forum about how to stay in HK on a budget and asked our STA Travel contact Dylan to pitch in with his own educated opinion.

Take it away Dugong:

Does anyone know of a decent place to stay in Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island? Safe, clean, with ensuite bath and all the creature comforts…I need accommodation for 1 month…so something reasonably priced…budget of less than US $60 a day?

Visit the forum to offer him your own tips, or read here for Dylan’s suggestions… (more…)

I’m a big believer in channeling your inner child, mainly because I never grew out of wanting to play, in the sense of old-fashioned, silly, unself-conscious mucking about. It’s no surprise that I love theme parks, so it’s reassuring that our round-the-world STA Explorer, Neil, a 21-year-old graduate, chose to hit Universal Studios in Orlando to celebrate his birthday.

Neil’s post is a good read for anyone thinking of visiting the park - there’s so much on offer that it can be easy to waste your time being indecisive, or queueing for rides which are a bit pants. As his girlfriend Megan had been before, they quickly separate the hits from the dross, and particularly enjoyed the newer Incredible Hulk rollercoaster and Revenge of the Mummy ride, as well as finding that the old mechanical Jaws ride retains its charm.

They also highly recommend their on-site hotel, as ‘we ended up saving money by staying in a hotel more expensive and with more stars’ because ‘being on-site meant that our room key worked as an express pass for all the rides’. And they rate the Jurassic Park Cafe where you can actually find ’some healthy stuff along with the usual crap’ for lunch!

Check out their story if you’re a big kid looking for fun, and let us know your own favourite places for some serious regression.

Lots of travellers online like to talk about the exciting part of their trip - the champagne drinking on Carribbean yachts, the lion cub-cuddling on safari - but, to be honest, the most useful conversations are about the boring bit. Planning, booking and accommodation ain’t fun - but they’re what we most want advice on, so we can actually have the bleeding fun in the first place.

So big bouncy love to STA Explorers Meg and Mojo for the latest post on their Epic Interrail Romp blog, which outlines their preparations for interrailing across Europe such as booking tickets, flights and hostels. In particular, they describe which hostels they have chosen and why, give their list of benefits of booking a place in advance, and give more general tips for how to save money and hassle when thinking about accommodation.

The girls are on a budget so they’ve sourced some great cheap places - but they also want to ’shake it up a bit’ so they’re looking at a wide selection of digs with different atmospheres: ‘basic hostels, home-run places, budget hotels and a friend’s house’.

Read their advice and do add a comment with any questions or suggestions of your own.

North America is pretty high on my dream destinations list right now. I’m feeling squeezed by the credit crunch, dsigusted by London’s cost of living and fed up with a social life that looks more like Eastenders than Sex and the City. But I haven’t got a Carrie Bradshaw budget and want to spend my dollars on shopping rather than a fancy hotel- so this week I’ve been selfish and asked the STA Travel bods to answer this Travellerspoint query from snaily that closely matches my own:

I’m planning to go to the US in september to visit several places. At the moment I’m looking for [cheap] hotels to book… I’m also looking forward to your advice on which places are to be visited first of all in the US, not too far from New York…

Calcruzer has posted some good advice, so head over to the forum to read it and add your shiny pearls of wisdom - and click here for what Dylan in STA Covent Garden has to say… (more…)