Mike Van Treese does, because that’s where he’s heading after time spent in Costa Rica!

His post entitled Back to San Jose serves as a summary of his travels in Costa Rica, taking some time to reflect on his travels, be it zipping through the tree-tops of Monteverde Cloud Forest or witnessing ‘tons’ of crocs beneath a bridge while heading to the port city of Quepos on the Pacific coast. But, what the trip came down to was phrase the Costa Rican’s are keen to say, ‘pura vida’, which translates as ‘pure life’. However there’s a little more to it than that:

“After over a week in Costa Rica, I finally understood what “Pura Vida” meant. I stopped worrying about “the schedule,” or the fact that breakfast takes almost an hour. I now have no problems stopping what I’m doing, and just enjoying the company I’m with, and the moment that I’m in, and the fact that I’m alive.”

Any trip that gets you feeling that, and ends with the opportunity to quote Burt Bacharach lyrics, can only be one thing – all good.

There are plenty of things I miss about being a student. Youth. (OK, I’m only 25, but it’s been a rough couple of years). Beauty (OK, well, that may have been a delusion, but enough cheap booze can make anyone feel like a pre-preggers Angelina). Cheap booze (sigh).

But, travel-loving lass that I am, the loss of my ISIC card has hit me pretty hard. It’s amazing how easily you can get ussed to assuming you can get discounts everywhere - for your flights, for hostels, in shops, museums and restaurants. My Youth Card still gets me plenty of bargains, but I’m only eligible for a few more months, and I’m already dreading my 26th birthday.

There’s always a decent stream of STA Travel word of mouth discussing the joys of ISIC and Youth cards (you can get them for about nine quid here). Just last week nomad blue was recommending them on this Cardiff City forums thread about budget travel. But has anyone got any more specific tips about great deals they’ve netted with their discount card - unexpected places you can use them or particularly good offers? Send us the links and help your fellow (poor but young and beautiful) travellers!

Marketing campaigns are one of those things that divide opinion like Marmite. Boring stuff just passes under our jaded radars, but when the marketing men stick their necks out and produce a shaking, singing dog or a drumming gorilla, everyone goes nuts.

STA tend to go for the interesting, youth-appeal approach - such as using real travellers as models, or being a bit provocative with strippers - and it divides opinion online.

Take the ‘Come back interesting’ campaign, above. I personally love this one, but that’s because I’m a sad literary obsessive and anything that references classic 1970s Penguin book covers is right up my street. The Marktd marketing blog agrees, deeming it:

a really lovely and very smart campaign for STA Travel… there is a solid insight behind the work that has been brought to life in a really engaging way.

Not everyone agrees though. On her MySpace, Elizabeth thinks the poster is:

being blatently offensive to Queer People and promoting the use of Sex Workers

Overreaction? Do you find their marketing offensive and frivolous, or fun and inspiring?

I’ve never been to one of STA’s series of travel talks, so I didn’t have much idea what to expect from last night’s Latin America themed session in their London Victoria branch. I certainly didn’t expect free beer and tortilla chips, a capoeira demonstration, a crazy STA lass wearing a sombrero and a fake tash, and a chat-up-line-heavy Spanish lesson. Which is what we got. And more.

It was good to hear a bunch of well-informed and passionate folk give practical advice, but just as good to get a sense of each person’s genuine love for Latin America, through their own personal stories of exploring the region and its people. Presenters from Prom Peru, i-to-i meaningful adventure tours, GAP Adventures, and of course STA staff themselves discussed must-see sights, community projects, language, food and health advice with a 40-strong gang of prospective adventurers who really got into the spirit of things. Personally, I am now particularly determined to visit Peru, which has 3,000 festivals each year, and Buenos Aires, which many of the presenters chose as one of their favourite cities in the world.

The exclusive money off deals and the goody bags were great, but to be honest the nicest thing was the enthusiasm and openness of it all, and the chance to chat and ask questions in an informal atmosphere. I even managed to jump up, plug STA travelbuzz, and invite anyone who had been inspired to travel with STA to become one of our STA Explorers.

The next talks are on round the world travel, in Kingston on 24th June and Glasgow 8th July - you can read more and book here. I won’t be able to make them, but let me know if you can so I can link to any photos or reviews. It’s definitely worth it. Did I mention the free beer?

If your heart’s aching for a city break in Mexico, allow The Legal Underground to be your guide through the shining, silver skyscrapers to see some relaxing sights.

The Legal Underground’s Evan Schaeffer visited Mexico City recently with his wife and has produced two reports of their time spent there for his blog. He has some excellent photos, showing Mexico City to be a sparkling, colourful and attractive place – far removed from what I’d expect of a city famed for being one of the world’s biggest air polluters.

On a bit of a side-note, I did some research after looking at Evan’s photos and it turns out that the federal and local governments of Mexico City have a strict policy on monitoring and controlling the level of pollutants allowed into the air. These controls include the power to shut down factories, change school hours and extend the A day without a car program (cool idea!) to two days a week. There’s green in the Mexican flag for good reason!

You might remember that I posted about STA Travel’s upcoming series of Travel Talks a couple of weeks ago. I’d just like to send out a little reminder that anyone interested in finding out about Latin America can come to the event in their London Victoria branch, this Wednesay June 11th at 7.30pm (read more and book a place here).

The talks are a good opportunity to get some face-to-face advice - which can be really useful and refreshing if you’ve done all your research on the net so far - as well as nab some special deals and discounts. I’ve never been to one before, so I’m going to drop by so I can take some photos, vidoes etc to upload here - and bend the ear of anyone who’ll stay still for long enough about the joys of using social media to share their trip.

If any STA travelbuzz readers, travel bloggers or forum members can make it, do come - it would be great to get the perspective on the talks from some other social media folk. I’ll be the six foot blonde with a bad tan line from the weekend, who’s failing to work her camera. And is probably late.

The one year anniversary of the first date I ever had with my girlfriend recently snuck up on me – resulting in a hasty trip to HMV for some lame gifts. Despite my lapse in gift-giving extravagance, I can remember the date enough to know it involved a romantic walk by the river and some time spent sitting beneath the setting sun amidst some spectacular, old English ruins.

Ahh, it was a great moment. And definitely worth more than the couple of DVDs I bought her. Still, it is with this recollection of romantic ruins, and ignoring my obvious failings as a boyfriend, that I introduce another Show and Tell. An opportunity for us to show you some travellers in need and you to tell them what they need to know.

This time, the question comes from Onejungle in the AardvarkTravel.net forum. Onejungle’s looking for ‘extraordinary’ ruins to visit during a tour of the Yucatan – if you have any great advice, let him know here…