North America is pretty high on my dream destinations list right now. I’m feeling squeezed by the credit crunch, dsigusted by London’s cost of living and fed up with a social life that looks more like Eastenders than Sex and the City. But I haven’t got a Carrie Bradshaw budget and want to spend my dollars on shopping rather than a fancy hotel- so this week I’ve been selfish and asked the STA Travel bods to answer this Travellerspoint query from snaily that closely matches my own:

I’m planning to go to the US in september to visit several places. At the moment I’m looking for [cheap] hotels to book… I’m also looking forward to your advice on which places are to be visited first of all in the US, not too far from New York…

Calcruzer has posted some good advice, so head over to the forum to read it and add your shiny pearls of wisdom - and click here for what Dylan in STA Covent Garden has to say… (more…)

We’re highlighting this travel question from Lonely Planet Forums because it struck a real chord with us. Clydefrog and his wife are looking for ideas of where to volunteer ‘in a small community for up to 4 weeks’ in Peru this summer., and although they’ve ’spent a lot of time looking online’ they haven’t found anything quite right, as they are hoping for ’something smaller and more rural’ than the obvious cities. The problem is that they want some first-hand advice from someone responding to their specific needs:

Please, though, no pointers to website with big lists of volunteer sites. I’ve been through a few of those, and while they are useful resources, there are just too many options with little information and no filtering. I’ve spent weeks at this aleady, and at this point I’m only interested in personal recommendations.

It’s a pretty strong case for the value of person-to-person online word of mouth for travellers, which is what we’re always harping on about and trying to increase. So go give your advice over on the forum - for our part we’ve nobbled Ian from STA Reading to give us his opinion - read more here (more…)

This week’s question comes from Sealy over at AardvarkTravel.net, a cunning little travel search site with some friendly associated forums. In her Backpacking in Patagonia thread, she asks for some itinerary advice:

I am heading to South America in September and am doing an organized tour from Quito to Rio. I am planning to backpack with 2 other girls heading from Rio to Buenos Aires and then to Patagonia before ending up in Santiago. For this leg of the trip we are wanting to take 3 weeks (end of nov to end of dec).

Has anyone done this route and could suggest places to go, transportation or accomodation? We are struggling to figure out a route. We had contemplated getting a south american airpass but it may be out of our budget. How is the bus system in these parts? Some of the cities we want to stop in are Buenos Aires, Bariloche, El Calafate/El Chaten, Punta Arenas? Is it worth it to go all the way down to Ushuaia?

As always with Travel Bugs, we’re keen that any lovely readers who have had experience in this area go give their own advice in the forum. But we’ve also purloined the perspective of South American-savvy Graham from STA Travel… (more…)

One of the things STA Travel are renowned for is their staff, who claim to be well-travelled, knowledgable, friendly and able to suck the venom out of a lethal snake bite in less time than it takes to say ‘there’s a new Indiana Jones movie’ (well, three out of those four claims are true). But truth-telling voice of the people that Si and I are, we want to hear about your genuine experiences.

So far the buzz we’ve come across on the net has been pretty positive. Over at Lonely Planet forums, jpe123 reckons that the guys at their local STA branch have been ‘very helpful indeed’ in planning a trip to Australia. As Mojo and Meg book their Epic Interrail Romp they’ve been helped by a lovely soul called Matt or something from STI travel… [who] was trying to impress us with his expertise and air of experience’, although his suggestion that they don’t pre-book activities was a bit too casual for the plan-happy gals. Most impressively, while exploring Brazil, Cchive and her mate ‘managed to bump into one of our STA Travel Agents who remembered Claire´s full name!! Freaky’ - that’s what I call customer service.

Join in the threads or send us a link to your discussion if you’ve got a view on the STA crew.

This week’s travel question from the restless, questing internet wilderness comes from the lovely Laura in the Virtual Tourist Travel Forums. She wants to give something back by doing some volunteering work on her trip to Brazil:

I’m just wandering if you know a good volunteer organization in Rio De Janeiro or near by… I would like to visit the coast of Uruguay, arrive to Rio and stay there volunteering for let’s say two weeks. Is that possible??

If you’ve done some volunteer work in Rio, jump over to the forum and give Laura some advice. On our part, we’ve asked Andrew from STA Birmingham, who knows Brazil like the back of his tanned hand, to give some words of wisdom… (more…)

In the second of our Travel Bugs series, where we rope in STA Travel staff to answer questions plucked from travel forums on the web, we’ve chosen a question from AtticusFinch in Lonely Planet Forum:

I need to find a hostel in Lima. I am going to be there 3 or 4 days. I am traveling alone and in my early 30’s. I like places that are social where I can meet interesting people. Staff that knows the area and can recomend things to do. A bar would be would be a plus. Budget is probably more along the lines of a backpacker hostel, but I rather have security and an ok place to stay than save a few bucks

As ever, jump over to the forum to read the community’s ideas and add your own, but first have a squizz at what Ian from STA Reading has to say… (more…)

‘ Travel Bugs?!’ we hear you cry. Nope, we’re not talking about that nasty parasite you picked up in Pnhom Penh (although if you really want to…) In fact, STA Travel Bugs is a smashing new feature where we pluck an interesting travel question form the internet ether and get a bright-eyed , fresh-brained, bushy-tailed member of the STA Travel team to send in their answer. Whatever your opinion about STA Travel, they’re renowned for having friendly and well-informed staff members who know the professional details of the travel industry but also have experience from their own adventures. This is also a chance for you to agree, disagree and generally chip in with tips and stories, so jump over to the forum and add your own replies.

This week, Tim from Lonely Planet Forum wants to know more about Ecuador:

I have been booked onto a liveaboard from the 18-25 of August on the Galapogas. I will fly into quito early August. My flights to the Islands are book with the tour. What are the chances of me changing my flight ticket to get out to the islands earlier by say two weeks.
Is there a budget airline in Ecuador?
Is it worth trying to make it down to Machu Pichu in August?
Ideally I would arrive in Ecuador very early August and get out to the Islands on an earlier flight, Is this likely and more likely to happen from quito or Gyacuil?
is there lots of other great things to do in Ecuador?

Click here to read what Chris from STA Sheffield has to say… (more…)