Today’s post comes straight from Todd (@globetrooper) at Globetrooper and covers the act of travelling as being an invaluable education – a true University of Life.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this; there are already a couple of comments at Globetrooper, including one from Keith the Travelling Savage, so join in and let us know your thoughts…

Image: Costa Rica 2009 – Flickr Birgitta Seegers

We enter this world as newborns with an insatiable curiosity. Because suddenly, snatched from the comfort of the womb, we’re dropped into this foreign world where everything is new: the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, everything.

But as we grow, and as we ‘mature’, our environment becomes familiar. We can no longer just open our eyes to find a world of discovery; we must manufacture it. So we end up entertaining ourselves with university, careers, and heaven help us, reality TV.

Surely there’s more…

The Problem
The last straw is when you catch yourself saying, “Wow, you learn something new everyday”. Because people don’t say this as a statement of fact; they say it when they’re honestly surprised to learn something new. Personally, I think it’s a grave travesty when learning becomes so unexpected.

The Solution
So how do we re-visit that day when we left the womb; the day when life wasn’t such a grind and the world really was our freshly-shucked oyster? Simple… We travel.

When you open your eyes in another dimension (let’s imagine Calcutta, Cairo or Cartagena) you’re not clutching for the odd life lesson, you’re completely swamped by a world of contrasts. As you look in any direction, you see a world of humanity and life, rather than a world of financial derivatives, legal contracts and diet books.

The Case Study
When Lauren and I first arrived in Montreal, we found ourselves learning like children again. Everywhere we looked, we thought, “We should do it this way at home”, or, “Are these people nuts, why don’t they do it this way?” There were countless lessons, and this was only Canada (quite possibly the most similar country on the planet to our homeland, Australia).

When we visited the Middle East and Africa… well, let’s just say we’d been living with our eyes half-closed for 20+ years. And I don’t mean closed to struggle, I mean closed to fulfillment, community and adventure.

The Curriculum
But the real lessons of travel (which aren’t taught on campus) show that your values have less to do with Lamborghinis and more to do with making a difference, exploring the unknown, and of course, spending time with honest and thoughtful people.

It may sound defeatist to look the other way of modern consumerism, but then it sounds pretty insane to voluntarily live in a prison (be it a cubicle, suburbia, an actual prison, etc.).

The Pre-requisites
Thankfully, and somewhat ironically, there are no entrance exams for an Education on the Road. Because to subsist on the road is an education in itself. So the only pre-requisite is a thirst to know what’s really out there.

In all seriousness though, imagine yourself post-MBA. Then compare that to yourself post-long-term-round-the-world-discovery. Which version of you would better grasp global issues? Which version would know how to make a positive impact? And which version would know what it means to lead a fulfilling life?

Apply Now
Where do I start? Start with these: The Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge, A Trip to Timbuktu, Trips visiting North Africa and Trips through Indo China.

Thanks Todd! Remember we’d love to hear from you. Do you agree with Todd? Leave a comment below.

Today’s hero of travel is the Globetrooper website, which promotes a truly shared experience when it comes to making your way around the world.

Essentially the site is a network where individuals just like you can build a journey of a lifetime and then ask like-minded folks to join you whether they’re friends, or those friends you haven’t met yet, strangers. In their own words,

“Globetrooper is a tool to find travel partners for group trips and world adventures.

More specifically, Globetrooper is a tool for adventurous travellers to create trips and invite people from all over the world to join them.”

Currently on the front page of their site are three featured trips, Sam’s Europe and anywhere else… no time limit, Mark’s Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge and Alice’s Backpacking/Working Europe in Spring ~ 2011 ~. Clicking through to these will give you a grand idea of what is possible at Globetrooper.

Obviously this is only scratching the surface of what is on offer, I looked though and found road trips from London to South Africa, plans to travel the world while playing poker and a Tour of Khovsgul Lake in Mongolia…

Of course there is also a page of travel guides to help with the planning, a forum for discussing said plans with the community and a blog covering plenty of useful and interesting travel related fare.

Globetrooper is lots of what we at STA travelbuzz love – community and travel. And this is why we’re giving them a Travel Tuesday virtual handshake of hearty approval! Good work!

#traveltuesday #tt

Today’s post is of the guest variety and comes courtesy of Travel With A Mate who we recently featured as par tof our Travel Tuesday feature. Matt has followed this up by kindly putting together some tips for those planning on backpcking long term…

The dream of taking time out from your normal life and going travelling is an increasingly popular one. Taking a year off or even longer to travel the world and experience new cultures, histories and landscapes sounds romantic, exciting and life changing.

I’m the first to admit it can be all of these things and I whole heartedly recommend traveling for an extended period of time. Interviews with global nomads on our Travel With a Mate website shows I’m not alone in this feeling. But don’t be fooled, travelling for extended periods means there will be days when it doesn’t go to plan. When travelling can feel more like a chore than a fun experience.

Thankfully there are some great ways you can avoid many of the pitfalls faced by long term backpackers. A little preparation and learning from other’s experiences can minimise the problems you may face while you’re on your round the world adventure.

Pack lightly
Practically every backpacker I have ever met has admitted to packing too many clothes, bringing too many gadgets and gizmos, forgetting that backpacking is all about down-sizing your life for a while and enjoy whats around you not what’s in your bag. My advice is to pack normally. Pack what you think you should take, then halve it before you leave! You don’t need so many tops, jeans and shoes. If you want
more when you’re away chances are you can buy it very cheaply.

Remember whatever you do take you’ll probably have to carry on your back every couple of days. After months of this you’ll be wishing you left those high heels at home along with the 6 books you’re carrying.
Bring 1 book, read it, swap it with a backpacker you meet on your journey.

Keep in contact
There will be times when you feel lonely on your trip. Even with all the new friends you’ll be making there are times when you’ll need familiar faces and a normal conversation other than repeating where you’ve been so far. Skype is a great way to stay in touch. Make sure all your friends and family have it installed and set up on their computers before you go. This means you can pop into any internet cafe in the world and catch up with them. computer to computer calls are free and you can even buy “Skype credit” and call any phone in the world from an internet cafe computer. Calling home will cost just pennies and you’ll soon feel ready to take on the world again. Many people use Facebook too or even start their own blog site (like we did!). It’s a great way to keep in touch with your family & friends as well as keeping a journal of your travel experiences.

Buy a car
If you’re in one country for months then think about buying a car. Many people hire cars but this can soon add up to a huge bill. It’s usually a lot more cost effective to pop to a local second-hand car dealership and grab a bargain. You can also use gumtree or craigslist to find a great deal. You’ll then have the freedom to drive anywhere you like any time. You then sell the car at the end of your journey and hopefully make most of the money back! While this can be a hassle to set up and transfer when sold you can save yourself thousands of dollars.

Keep healthy
This is easier said than done when backpacking. You usually meet loads of people from your hostel and end up out on the town every night of the week. In fact after a while you’ll forget which day of the week it is! Make sure you take a night off from drinking occasionally and have the occasional vegetarian meal. Walking to the tourist attractions and going on trekking excursions are a great way to stay in shape. In the long term your body will thank you for it. If you’re away for months at some point you’ll no doubt be ill even if it’s just a cold. Accept it’s going to happen sooner or later and be prepared for it.

Do your research
Some people like to jump in the deep end and travel without research of their destinations. I much prefer to know what my options are before i visit. Take some time to google your destinations, find out what cool things there are to do there. While you don’t need to book all your accommodation before you arrive it’s worth booking a few places in each country to make sure you have a place to stay and a deadline to work to.

Stop travelling
The best way to avoid travel fatigue is to stop travelling! While you’re away you don’t have to keep moving every few days. If you get the chance it’s nice to stop for at least a few weeks or even a month or two. Rent a house-share somewhere and relax for a while. It’ll give you the chance to really get a feel for where you are, live the local life and enthuse you to travel some more when it’s time to move on.

Be prepared
There’s nothing quite like extended travel to make you want to travel more! Being prepared for your long term adventure will mean you make the most of it. There will always be lessons learned along the way but there is no doubt that your adventure will give you a real travel buzz!

As next week sees us hosting our Latin America and Masterclass #2 meet-up we thought it’d be a good opportunity to do a little retrospective on our get-togethers.

They began in an understated, quiet manner and now have expanded into vibrant celebrations of travel hosted in the STA Travel Victoria store, with the assistance of the wise and well travelled STA Travel staff.

In the past we’ve seen the introduction and retirement of the unofficial STA travelbuzz mascot Pete, a trip around the world (based in London) to celebrate STA Travel’s 30th birthday and of course an over packed suitcase load of travel discussion. And all the while we’ve made some great friends.

Meet ups have been themed around STA Travel 30th Birthday, Thailand, STA Travel’s World Traveller Internship and Australia!

Picking out highlights is always an awkward thing to do, there are so many!!! However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to,

We had Alice’s Aus face,

AJ turning up to the Australian Gold Coast evening with his surfboard,

Maz and Cam dancing during the American leg of our around the world tour,

And sisters Sophie and Cherry’s tiger balm experiment…

And a whole load more – I haven’t even mentioned Paddy!

Needless to say we love our meet-ups as they give us a chance to hang out with our tribe, as well as meeting new people, and all with the shared interest of seeing everything the world has to offer.

Next Thursday will be no different and we can’t wait to see you there!

If you’re interested in coming along just get in touch via email, the comments below or @statravelbuzz. If you want to see even more of the sort of stuff we get up to, head back through our meet-up posts, land on our FaceBook page or visit our Flickr account. Fun times!

At STA travelbuzz we’re very proud of the tribe of STA Explorer’s we’ve built up and there has been quite a bit of activity recently – and this calls for a round up of travelling experiences.

Firstly our two latest additions, Henrietta and Stu have been busy updating. Henrietta has done so from Nha Trang in Vietnam and Sihanoukville in Cambodia, where a slower pace of life has taken over. Stu on the other hand has already updated 15 times in May alone on his adventures through Europe by rail.

Toni has provided visual flavour to here travels with a recent Flickr update. Her photostream takes in a Big Buddha, Hong Kong Sevens rugby, sunsets in Koh Tao and a huge Manta Ray!

There are apologies from George for a lack of updates, but promises ‘more than more than 9 words describing the best thing ever‘ shortly and more travel too as soon as his funds are replenished.

It’s Travel Tuesday for Chris and this means a post on the best ways to travel Australia. Yes, there are at least 10 ways of moving your travelling self about the land down under.

And finally we have Maz, a recently returned £10 Pom who has enlisted the services of the BorderJumpers, Bernard and Danielle who are travelling to nearly all 54 countries in Africa, to provide a guest post on Zambia.

All excellent stuff. If you’d like to be part of the STA Explorer community and share your travelling experiences then send us an email telling us so!

Last night STA travelbuzz descended on the STA Travel Victoria store for our meet-up, which saw us discussing Australia’s Gold Coast and beginning our STA MasterClass by learning about wine-tasting.

There was lots of chat about the Gold Coast, where to go and what to do. Kate, STA Travel Victoria’s delightful manager and her able assistant Tom led the discussions. They were also joined by the Golden Day competition entrants Callum and AJ. The competition was indeed won in the end by AJ who can be seen celebrating below with runners-up Callum and Sophie and their prizes of d’Arenberg wines.

The wines are sure to be appreciated too, thanks to our first STA MasterClass; wine-tasting. The MasterClass was given by Robert McIntosh (@thirstforwine), who’s written a post about the evening, and Claire Scott (@clairelsscott) of d’Arenberg (@darenberg) who explains her occupation on her Twitter profile,

“I pinch myself regularly to realise that I am being paid to travel the continent sharing great food and wonderful d’Arenberg wines with oenophiles everywhere.”

That is a dream job – and she got to come to an STA travelbuzz meet-up! The wines were all excellent as was the information shared. The d’Arenberg company name all their wines after stories relevant to the family behind the brand and it was great to hear them. Our Twitterfall saw attendees sharing reactions – notably these from @unwholey, @englishkatie and our own Siobhan who was on @statravelbuzz.

As the STA MasterClass ended we snuck in some ‘fun’ homework regarding the skills they’d learnt. Yes, we handed out wine and asked one and all to test their newly acquired tasting talents. We’re looking to @englishkatie, @unwholey, @manda_jenks, @andreasantoni, @somiraculous, @callumj and @spintheglobe for some A* work, no pressure.

There are many images capturing the evening’s action on our Flickr account so stop by to have a look. Finally a big thank you to all who came along and made the evening a success, especially Rob, Claire, Kate and Tom.

If you’d like to come along to the next meet-up or indeed get yourself enrolled in the STA MasterClass just drop Jayne an email saying ‘hi’. Hopefully we’ll see you at the next one!

Angkor Wat in Cambodia is probably the most recognisable of the temples in the region and with good reason as STA Explorer Laura explains,

“We started off at Angkor Wat, which is the famous one you see in all the pictures and on postcards. It was amazing, absolutely huge and covered with carvings. I’ll put photos up as it’s hard to describe!”

Jamie and Laura’s post contains some more information on temples, tips on surviving cycling in the city and a bit about what they got up to in Phnom Penh – Dr. Fish anyone?

Now for a change of pace, as we join Amar in Sydney for the Platform 3 Hip Hop Festival,

“When I came across the words “free” and “hip hop festival” I was in. I went to the Platform 3 Hip Hop festival in Redfern, Sydney of all places to dig deep and figure out: What is Hip Hop?”

Amar spent the day being amazed by the talents on display. Whether it was break dancers or DJs, graffiti artists or beatboxers it was all superb. So what did he learn about Hip-Hop? Click through to Gap Year Escape to find out.

If you’re interested in being an STA Explorer then do just as Henrietta did and get in touch with us. Before you know it you’ll be sharing your adventures of, in her case, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and Australia with a community of likeminded souls. You can say ‘hi’ to Henrietta @ffmfreedom…