The online travel community are an opinionated bunch. Quite rightly too: most of our money gets eaten up in pursuing the next destination or experience, so we’re protective of where we put it. Which means that when the opportunity comes along to influence the companies we use, it’s well worth grasping it with both travel-worn hands.

So STA travellers might just like to fill out this survey on their website with a view to becoming part of a consulting panel:

Some of you will then be contacted and asked to share your thoughts about some new developments at STA Travel. Before completing the survey… please make sure that you will be available to complete an additional 10 minute survey NEXT WEEK(w/c 8th September).

Why not join in? Be interesting to see how their latest initiative to listen to the little guy develops.

12seconds.tv is new, super new in fact, so new you’ll need to hit the site and request an invite to sign up. We’re talking a real front runner in social media trends that may or not be the next big thing. Nevertheless, we love it and think it is an addition to the arsenal of any happy traveller. But, before you send that invite request, let me tell you more.

Have you seen Molly’s twittering? If not, then enjoy her bite sized musings here. Twitter is micro-blogging, 140 characters at a time. Micro-vlogging is the same, but with video instead of words. And, as I’m sure you can gather, those videos are 12 seconds at a time.

So what would be the value of such a service to the intrepid? I see 12seconds.tv and the video footage you upload as an alternative that fills the gap between the photograph and text update. Offering real ‘wish you were here’ credentials. It’s quick too. Once your account is setup you can film yourself direct onto the web or, more pertinent for those in lands far away, whip out your camera phone, do your 12 second skit, email it from your mobby and it appears online ready for the eyes of your pals.

12seconds.tv is potentially a great way to share the highs and lows of your trips away without any danger of, err… over engaging your audience.

Few things can be better than a sunny afternoon outside in Covent Garden, a load of alcohol, and a bunch of lovely people talking about their upcoming travels, social media, and a whole load of other things I’ll discreetly decline to reproduce here…

Yup, our inaugural STA Explorers meet-up took place yesterday afternoon, and was a chance for like-minded STA travellers to gather, eat, drink, and discuss how they can use social media to spread the stories of their travel experiences, discoveries and tips.

Anyone who couldn’t make the event or is interested in the project can have a look at the slides I put together, called the STA Explorers’ social media toolkit - a very simple introduction to what we’re doing, how and why.

Read about what George thought of the event and why she’s decided to become an STA Explorer here, and check out Steve’s post on the meet-up here.

You can follow the Explorers’ blogs, microblogs and photo and video sites by clicking on their icons to the right. And feel free to send me a mail if you’re interested in joining us. With such a beautiful bunch of lookers like the ones above, who wouldn’t want to?

One of the funny things about social media is that it can be anything but social. Far too often I miss dinner, drinks and general high jinks because I’m getting Flickr-happy uploading 1000 photos from my latest trip, or putting the finishing touches to that ‘perfect’ blog post.

Which is why I have to remind myself not just to create and spread my own content, but actually engage with others in social media (yes, I know, radical, but it hurts less after the first time). One bright idea is to create your own travel forums so people following your blog, photos and videos also have somewhere to ask detailed questions, offer tips and generally have proper old arguments and debates that the comments on blogs just aren’t equipped to handle.

In fact, our pioneering STA Explorers Stevo and Ady did indeed set up their own boards last week, so head over to chat about their upcoming round the world travel plans. They used myfanforum.org, an easy-to-use free site (with the few inevitable ads).

My personal top talk tool is Tangler, a beautifully designed site which creates your own customised ‘live discussion forum’. I’ve created one for STA travelbuzz so head on over if you want to see how it works and chat with Si, Sam, myself and other travel-happy web-heads. But make sure to also create your own so that you can be king or queen of your own sexy social space.

There’s one word of warning to all this: don’t forget to engage in the existing, big travel forums already out there (check out our forum roll for places we love). I wrote this post on the value of using travel forums a while back. Your own forum will be a great extension of your own content, but the established boards will open up your opinions and questions to a ready-made potential audience of thousands, and allow you to spread the travel love on a much bigger scale.

So why the hell not do both? Well. Exactly.

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?

Unless you’re a Hilton sister or the current President of the United States, you’ll appreciate the scarcity of holiday time. Work commitments, lack of funds, an international ASBO banning you from leaving the country and further damaging the UK’s foreign reputation…these are all common issues meaning most of us don’t get to spend as much time doing the whole ‘tourist’ thing as much as we’d like.

Even if you can’t get out of the country, that doesn’t mean you should miss the opportunity to wander excitedly around with a map and a camera, annoying the locals with requests to capture a shot of you posing awkwardly in front of a monument that is usually only frequented by the regional equivalent of hoodies.

And this is exactly what Cybill, writer of the blog Sorting it Out, did around her native Perth in an agreement with fellow blogger Iheartfashion. These two are trying to snaffle the feeling of travel, without needing to go more than a few miles from their homes.

While this is undoubtedly a fun way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon (asking passers-by to photograph you around the local tourist attraction that is USA Fried Chicken), writing a travel guide to your hometown is deceptively useful. After all, who’s better suited to give travel advice to outsiders than someone who lives and breathes the place. Granted, if you live in Slough the demand for such a guide may be small, but if we do our bit for worldly travellers, who knows, perhaps they’ll return the favour in kind.

Relax people; caring about the environment doesn’t have to be the reserve of opportunistic politicians and profit-swelling energy companies. More and more people are becoming conscious of their carbon footprint and travellers are especially aware of the problems caused by the human race’s frenetic burning of fossil fuels. This is probably because they recognise that, pretty soon, there won’t be anywhere worth visiting if we don’t do something to help protect the animals, people and locations at risk.

Ironically, it’s also travellers whose free-roaming footprints worry the environment even more than those who stay at home smashing refrigerators in their gardens and spraying CFCs with abandon (ok, I’m not sure who’s doing these things but if it’s you, please stop). So, what’s the solution?

This is a question pondered by SustainaGirl of GREEN Lenses after coming across a mention of “Eco-friendly travel” in the STA Travel newsletter. Interested in how she could combine her favourite hobby of travelling with her dedication to the green cause, she investigated a little further what ‘Ecotourism’ means.

She sums up her findings with the measured efficiency of an eco-warrior over on her blog with the article, “Exploring Ecotourism”, which is definitely worth a read.

All in all, I find it hard to disagree with the closing paragraph which wisely states: “If we’re on a carbon diet, instead of starving people of their everyday pleasures, why not offer a light option?”

Read more about Exploring Ecotourism...