With Big Brother 9 dragging its bloated corpse towards an overdue death, surely the whole reality TV phenomenon is finally, thankfully kaput?

We-ell. Not quite. Because Bebo’s interactive online travel reality show The Gap Year (which STA Travel sponsors) is still going strong, and, although I slightly hate myself for admitting this, it’s actually not bad at all. Pretty compulsive in fact. All of which is, in my opinion, down to Dave.

Roaming the world for six months at the whim of us online audience who control his budget and adventures, the British contestant is winningly anti-reality. With no whining, no attention seeking and certainly no poor pop song singing, Dave is as laid back as they come, even slightly shy. Which means that locals in all the places he visits invariably warm to his relaxed, unpretentious style, and we end up getting a really genuine insight into the countries he explores.

The latest video (here and below) from Dave couch surfing in Hawaii, is a classic - especially his admission that he ‘collects fridge magnets’ (rock and roll, man, rock and roll). He’s now moving onto Australia, so if you want your faith restoring that not every normal person turns into an idiot in front of the camera, become a fan of The Gap Year and follow Dave’s winning wandering ways.

Like many gap year travellers, Nick is determined to make a difference during his months in South America. His latest blog post describes his arrival in Uycho, where he has been teaching kids from the local orphanage and building a wall to defend the town’s local reservoir.

However, volunteering is more complicated and difficult than just crusading in like western knights in armour to sort out the problems of the poor. Nick describes their struggles to deal with hyperactive kids and adults who are, ironically, the opposite:

we were midway through the second week and we still hadn´t had any support from the locals. We were getting a bit tired of the whole ´si mañana´attitude

But with perseverance and a bit of imagination Nick and his fellow volunteers get the kids engaged and finally get going with the wall, learning how to work and play the Uycho way. He’s now headed to Lima and La Paz, so keep on top of his blog and don’t be afraid to leave comments and ask questions if you’re interested in a regular guy’s view of a South American adventure.

Sometimes, as I log onto my EeePC in the bath, I suspect I need to get out more. Great as the net is, there are times when online research is best combined with a little offline interaction: planning your Gap Year is one of them. It’s a big investment of your time and money, so you want to make it a trip of a lifetime.

So, if you’re thinking of becoming a Gapper - whether you fancy interrailing round Europe, working with kids in India or just bumming around hot sandy places - STA Travel have a whole series of Gap Year Travel Talks in branches across the UK where you can see presentations from a load of different companies, get exclusive discounts and freebies, and most importantly talk to a bunch of people who have already been on them, to get at the truth behind the hype.

STA travelbuzz lovely Juliette will be going to the Covent Garden talk next Monday 18th at 7pm so do come along if you want to meet her too - for this or any of the upcoming talks, go here to email STA and book a place. I sadly can’t come, but I went to a Latin America talk they did a while back which was excellent, so I should imagine it’ll be well worth your time trying to catch one near you.

If you can’t, you might want to look at the blogs from some of our Explorers just embarking on their Gap Years - Nick is heading to South America for both volunteering and adventuring; Tiffany is touring India and Africa; and Em is spending a year on a student exchange in Mexico.

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.

If you haven’t checked in on The Gap Year in a while, then be sure to do so as the social media reality travel series (to give it the snappier title) continues to send its hot, young global representatives on a whirlwind tour of the world.

The traveller most likely to get a lot of male attention throughout this adventure is undoubtedly Amy from Australia. Watch her introduction video below:

Amy is currently venturing through Russia, carrying with her a rather obvious sense of trepidation and a rather sexy bum-bag to protect her from pickpockets. Out of interest, I wore a bum-bag a few years back when I was in France, thinking it was cool. I still think I was right and it’ll just take a while before everyone catches up with my trendsetting ways.

Check out Amy’s video diary from Russia below.

See more of The Gap Year here on Bebo.

The Gap Year is social media doing reality TV – with all the benefits that brings. Hosted on social networking site Bebo, The Gap Year sees a group of young travellers on their journey round the world, producing a constant stream of blog posts, video logs, and photos to keep us amused.

We first introduced you to The Gap Year last Wednesday, before the plucky (yes, I used plucky) explorers set off on their adventures. As we rejoin them after the long weekend, we see that Dave (representing Britain in this expedition – whoo! Go Dave!) has recently arrived in Canada and began, presumably, as he means to go on by hitting the bars and chatting up hot Mexican girls.

Follow Dave’s progress on his Bebo page here.

Throw your TVs out the window - you won’t need them this summer as your reality TV fix normally satiated by channel 4’s Big Brother can now be administered online with the help of The Gap Year – the interactive, online reality travel adventure that’s sure to have more bikinis than Shipwrecked and more dignity than I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

This exciting concept launched on Bebo, the popular social network, earlier today and introduces six adventurous (and not camera shy) travellers who are “leaving their homes and embarking on a six-month global adventure”. These plucky internet celebrities to be represent the UK, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and range from the easy-on-the-eyes Amy O’Connor (Australia) to the easy-on-the-eyes Andre Tardiff (Canada). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the UK representative Dave Brett appears to be the dourest of the six. I have no doubt that his native British wit will shine through soon enough!

You can follow their every move as they weave their way across the world via their blogs, photos, and videos which will all be available on Bebo. What’s more, their journey will be under the control of the Bebo community who can directly influence the traveller’s experience! If you’re like me and love the thought of wickedly controlling the fates of others, then I’m sure your eyebrows are arching in evil pleasure as you read this.

Anyway, follow this link to check out The Gap Year’s page on Bebo, which includes links to the profiles of all the travellers. And while you’re over there, be sure to add STA Travelbuzz as your friend!

We’ll be following The Gap Year as it progresses, so be sure to return here regularly for frequent updates!