Myself, Fran & Siobhan spent Saturday immersed in all things travel related at the Adventure Travel Show Live. After presenting to a diverse audience our STA Explorer programme and the World Traveller Internship (WTI) we had a few chats and gave out our goody bags to excited, budding nomads hoping to apply for the WTI and become STA Explorers.

After, Fran went and saw some of the talks and spread the STA travelbuzz word, whilst Siobhan and I went to check out the different travel stalls. First off was drinking Kava, the traditional Fijian drink, with Ben Keene from Tribe Wanted and Dylan (@travellingeditor). The Kava was mixed together by a very authentic looking Fijian and we all had to clap before we received our drink and then clap again after. It was hard to do so when we were almost gagging from the taste (think trees mixed with mud). However, after 3 cups of that and a very numb mouth, we set off giggling like school girls to chat to the STA Travel team who were all working hard giving out information on various deals and offers currently on while answering any questions people had about specific destinations.

We also spoke to the guy on the Mali counter, who taught us about classic Mali music before we made our way to the Healthy Travel talk with Jane Wilson. She taught us how to successfully remove a tick (grab it by the teeth and yank it out). The appropriate clothing to wear (tie trousers at the bottom over your boots to avoid bites and leeches). And how to get over a bout of diarrhea (LOTS of water and eat if you feel hungry).

From there we met Toni, our newest explorer, and we chatted all about her up coming travels. The previous evening had seen her meet a bunch of people to discuss her trip and she has already arranged to meet people while travelling and partake in a little couch-surfing!

All in all a great day!

We’re back, and normal service is about to resume, but before it does a run through our friendfeed - the place to keep up with us and our tribe of STA Explorers and their travelling experiences - has spilled the details on all that they’ve been up to over the festive break.

We have to begin with this tweet from Escaping the Grind, Alice in Down-underland and Hang 10 and Party or, Marianne, Alice and Chris, stating that they miss us. Aww. It’s great to see Explorers getting together and having an ace time! We miss you too. Marianne has also posted on the experience of spending Christmas on Bondi Beach and being one of the 1.5 million people bring in New Year in Sydney…

Samantha’s Christmas in Melbourne was all good once the pressies had arrived and the tree was up,

“I could have nearly mistaken it as an English chrissy until walking outside to 40 degree heat…dreaming of a white Christmas, no chance Sheila!!”

Her new year was spent at the Falls Festival, a celebration of the arts, where she welcomed in 2010 with acts including Jamie T and Moby.

Laura and Jamie, Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia, enjoyed mince pies on the beach and had ‘the best NYE ever’ in Sydney.

Alex welcomed in the New Year with 12 grapes, taking part in a Spanish tradition of eating one on each stroke of midnight to bring you good fortune for the coming year.

Like Marianne, Amar hit Bondi Beach despite the weather being somewhat less favourable than glorious sunshine. He was there for New Year also,

“The atmosphere, the 20,000 people at your side, everything. Makes me grin like an idiot just thinking about it again. Yesterday will be with me for the rest of my life. When that bridge lights up it truly is a magical moment. I hope one day that you’ll get to see it for yourself.”

Well, you can see it for yourself thanks to Amar and the power of YouTube.

OK, admittedly not the same, but if it makes you head there next year…

Finally we have Our Little Jaunt who didn’t just celebrate Christmas and New Year in Sydney, it was also their first wedding anniversary. Congratulations!

I think we’re just about up to date. It’s 2010 and we’re looking to expand our community as always, so if you had a superb Christmas break while travelling, or are about to head off to far flung lands let us known via email or Twitter.

‘Reasons to travel’ is the latest post from Amar, our Gap Year Go Getter. In it he considers the reasons people go travelling and what they look to get out of their time away.

The thoughts were kicked off by his own moment of realisation, as he describes,

“I guess I had a little epiphany or moment of enlightenment. Call it what you will, something happened. I don’t think the circumstances matter as long as you learn from it. I couldn’t even begin to explain what ‘clicked’. Unless you were me, you wouldn’t understand.”

Like all good scholars, Amar doesn’t rely on his own words to get the message across. Instead he turns to spiritual activist Marianne Williamson for further clarity, providing a quote that is certainly designed to get you thinking about yourself and your place in the world. If you’re the philosophical sort then click through and share your thoughts with Amar…

On the gapyear.com forums Slothlover has posted on her excitement at going around the world. Due to travel in January the imminent trip just wasn’t imminent enough and she is now looking to leave at the end of November.

Her post asks if anyone fancies joining her or has similar plans as she’d be keen to make some travelling buddies. Brouard21 replied and prompted more activity and further endeavour from Slothlover to ensure she doesn’t miss out on a thing whilst travelling,

“I am aiming to fly end of this month, or beginning of December… Have super itchy feet! Going to pop into STA Travel tomorrow to find out more on flights as I want to see so much!”

The trip is going to see her visiting Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and South America, so if you’re heading that way in the near future why not get in touch. Or, if you have any advice, pass it on.

Amar is soon to be added to the STA Explorer roster; however he’s just put together a great video of his gap year in Asia covering the locations of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. As you can see from his site this is only the closure of one chapter of his year away with his wandering feet about to land in Australia.

So think of this as a pre-introduction introduction of sorts to Amar, a man on a Gap Year Escape. And if you were unsure of why you should take that gap year, and why you should visit Asia, just watch the video below…

A new and very friendly contact we have at STA Travelbuzz is TEFL and Volunteer holiday specialist Kris Smith who works closely with STA Travel. As this is something we thought you guys might be interested in we have asked him to write a couple of guest articles on trips he’s currently promoting. This one, as you can see, is for Thailand and the next focuses on China (I’ll post that next week). For now though I’ll hand over to Kris…

Fancy spending a rewarding three weeks teaching enthusiastic children how to speak English? Once class is over, go for a swim in the clear blue ocean off the coastal paradise of Rayong, and at the weekends, catch the ferry to nearby Koh Samet, known for having some of the whitest beaches in Asia!

Many schools in the area want English teachers, but simply can’t afford them. By teaching young people English you will be able to make a positive impact on their lives and make more opportunities available to them – particularly in Rayong province where tourism is a major employer.

Of course, you wouldn’t be just thrown into a classroom and expected to teach! Before you leave the UK, you’ll complete an internationally recognised 60 hour online TEFL qualification, which will give you enough knowledge to teach confidently and competently. Charles Fulton, a return volunteer suggests “Be proactive and creative, when lesson planning shake things up a bit. You are not there to plough through the textbook. Instead, use it as a content guide, and apply your knowledge of the TEFL to engage the children. Whether it’s games, activities or interesting exercises, they will develop a greater interest in learning English”. About the location, he says “Having Koh Samet only a 30 minute boat ride away from the project accommodation is brilliant - go there, it is beautiful.”

Next, it’s two weeks trekking and sightseeing. This is a real chance to ‘live as a local’, enjoying traditional food and spending the nights with local hill tribes! You will visit an Elephant camp and hitch a ride deep into the jungle for an overnight stay. Next morning is your chance to ride the river on a bamboo raft! This journey will see you stopping off at several villages along the way for some rest and stretch time.

Your Volunteer Adventure complete, you can return home proud of what you have achieved and with plenty of stories to impress your friends and family. This will also look great on any CV or UCAS application! Just follow the link for more information on the Teach and Trek in Thailand trip.

If this is something you’d be interested in follow the link or indeed, come to our next meet-up and have a chat where we’d be more than happy to answer any questions. Drop Camilla an email for more information.

This Thursday passed and saw, at a super special location (well a pub in Covent Garden), the second STA Travelbuzz Meet-up! And to say the evening was a roaring success would be, well, a gigantic understatement.

Once again, armed only with our mascot Pete, our charm and a host of exciting things we’re doing with STA Travel we waited for our guest list to arrive – and arrive they did.

We had STA Explorer’s past and present, STA staff members and a varied collection of individuals all with a love of travel - Some of whom had found us via our STA Travelbuzz meet-up.com page, where the evening has been receiving some rave reviews.

As the evening progressed there was chat on all sorts of things travel related, from climbing Kilimanjaro in the coming week (one guy was actually doing this!) to the Polish rail network. Pete the Giraffe caused quite a stir as usual; especially on the trip to the venue, as did my circulating among all attendees and coercing them into doing a piece to camera on their dream destination.

For more of the visual from the evening take a look at our photos on the STA Travelbuzz Flickr account. To make sure you don’t miss the next one get in touch with Cam through email or @statravelbuzz.