It is time for an update on the activities of some of our STA Explorers and how their travelling experiences are currently panning out.

First a relative newbie to the clan – say hello to Nicole! She’s an Aussie who is heading to London after summer camp in the US. From our great capital she’ll set off again on adventures that will hopefully see her,

“… teach English, learn to snowboard in the Swiss Alps, master a foreign language and help save the giant pandas in China!”

All of this will be documented across Bitten by the Travel Bug, @NicoleTravelBlog and Facebook.

Alex of the South American loveliness that is afowen.com has added significant amounts to the sites What to do in Bogotá page. Basically it’s a must read if you’re visiting!

Michael has updated his Facebook photos with what he refers to as leftovers from Mongolia. Leftover doesn’t really do them justice as the images are great. I’ve included one below (statues/monuments are nothing without horses in my opinion), though I’d also like to recommend this super shot that has one commenter asking, ‘Did you accost a local?’

Travelling Editor Dylan has also updated, going into detail about the preparation and subsequent effects of kava. Something he experienced while in Fiji.

It was also experienced by our very own Cam and Siobhan at the Adventure Travel Show…

Finally if you’ve travelled and filled the less hectic days with music and film,the sharing of which with fellow backpackers is something Chris sees as a mainstay of travelling, you’ll enjoy his latest Top Ten Tuesday – Film’s and TV.

There is more from th STA travelbuzz tribe on our  travelling experiences page. If your interested in joining the STA Explorer fold, just leave us a comment below or get in touch via email or Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you.

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

Welcome to part two of our guest post from Todd of Todd’s Wanderings on 5 Experiences not to miss while touring Japan. The first installment featuring Hanami parties and hot-spring baths can be found here. And for the remaining three you just need to read on…

Festivals
There is no better way to taste traditional Japanese life and culture than through one of the thousands of matsuri (festivals) held across Japan each year. They come in all shapes in sizes, with dancing, singing, drinking, lots and lots of drinking, naked g-stringed men, massive floats, and portable shrines to take the gods (8 million at last count) out for a spin around the neighborhood and a bit of fresh air.

I prefer the small local festivals but the big ones, like Gion Matsuri in Kyoto or the Sanja Matsuri in Tokyo’s Asakusa Shrine are fun too. Whichever your preference your best bet is to research coming festivals on Japan’s Tourism Website. But be open to visiting small festivals you hear about once you arrive, it will help you add a unique local experience that can make your trip truly memorable.

Izakaya
The ultimate Japanese communal eating experience, an Izakaya can only be described as Japanese tapas. They are a great way to experience a wide variety of Japanese food, and drink copious amounts of beer, sake or chu-hai (shochu with flavored carbonated water). I like ume-chuhai, plum flavored. Yum!

These are friendly places that are like the local corner pub. Japanese come after work to share food, stories, and bond with each other. The portions are usually small and the variety of foods can be staggering, as will your bill if you try to have a proper meal. Use your time in an Izakaya to sample different dishes, get to know those you are with, or even sitting next to, and then decide on a cheaper option for the next stop in the night.

Sumo
Somehow when you’re in Japan, watching hairy fat men in g-strings crush against each other, with such force that you can see the shock waves ripple through their fat, does not seem strange at all. With only six Grand Sumo Tournaments held each year you need to be plan accordingly. Three are held at the Ryodoku Kokugikan in Tokyo (January, May and September) and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November). Each tournament runs for 15 days, beginning and ending on a Sunday.

Tickets near the ring can be quite pricy so if you’re on a budget, buy tickets for the standing area at the back of the hall. Don’t worry the arenas are not that big, luckily the participants are. Be prepared for a long day, so pack your backpack full of your drink and snack of choice from a nearby convenience store.

Most of all relax and have a good time. Japanese customs can be tricky but as a guest you are not expected to know them all. Just be respectful and nice naturally and you’re bound to have the time of your life.

Hopefully if you’re intending to visit Japan you’ll now have a list of five experiences you’ll be eager to try. I like the idea of going to the Sumo wrestling and then a Hanami party – it feels as if it’d perfectly cover both ends of the spectrum in terms of Japanese culture.

I’ll finish with a big thanks to Todd for the post! Make sure to head over to Todd’s Wanderings and say ‘hi’, he’s particularly friendly and should you have any questions on travelling to Japan, or anywhere else for that matter, I’m sure he’d be happy to help out. Cheers Todd.

Today’s post is part one of two from guest blogger Todd of Todd’s Wanderings. We featured Todd in a recent Travel Tuesday post and have since convinced him to to offer his knowledge of Japan in guest post format. He’s a well travelled fellow as you can read about on his site,

“I am a conflict resolution and human rights expert who has lived in Japan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Sri Lanka, most currently Kosovo, and visited over 30 countries. I began my wanderings 10 years ago as an English teacher in Japan. I fell in love (with the country), stayed for five years and then finally moved on to international development work.”

We reckon this more than qualifies him for passing on information on what to do when visiting the land of the rising sun…

5 Japanese Experiences Not To Miss
Let’s face it, Japan can be a confusing place. The subways might be so full you’re held up by bodies rather than poles, English signs are few and far between, and cultural barriers can seem insurmountable. Many visitors deal with this confusion by burying their heads in their guide book and hitting the sites…check, check, and check. Of course the historical centers are amazing, I mean who can resist a 1,000 year old Buddhist temple, but experiences are what make trips truly memorable not photographs. Eating and drinking with the locals, cheering on fat men in g-strings as if it was an everyday event, shocking yourself into relaxation, or toasting nature’s fading beauty with an all out picnic drinking fest, these are the memories you will carry back home and that will carve a special place in your heart for the land of the rising sun (Nihon). If you’re planning a trip to Japan, or if you’re lucky enough to be there right now, fit these experiences into your schedule and wow your friends with your exploits for years to come.

Get Shocked
Every visitor to Japan should be required to get naked and enjoy an onsen (hot spring) with a room full of strangers. This quintessential Japanese experience will leave you relaxed, calm and feeling rejuvenated after your long journey. For the ultimate experience visit an onsen with a rotemburo (outdoor bath) where you can soak in the fresh air and amazing views. Don’t forget to shower first BEFORE you get in the bath, and NEVER dip your small hand towel in the water (fold it and rest it on your head to look like a local).

If you don’t have time to visit a natural hot spring consider stopping by a sento (public bath). It’s the same concept but the water is heated artificially and there are usually a variety of baths such as tea filled, the cold bath, and the dreaded electric bath. Yeah that’s right, they electrify their water! Give it try, I can’t say it’s pleasant but it is an experience.

Hanami-Flower Viewing Party
If you’re lucky enough to be in Japan during the cherry blossom season (March to May depending on where you are in the country) you have to experience a hanami, cherry blossom viewing party. Groups gather under the delicate and fleeting blossoms to celebrate the passing beauty by eating and drinking on the ground. Grabbing a good drinking…err viewing spot can be quite competitive and companies will send their junior employees to the parks at the crack of dawn to secure their spots for that evening.

Without knowing a local it can be difficult to get invited to a hanami. Your best bet is to make friends quickly once you arrive. Many Japanese are eager to show visitors around their country and you just might get lucky. Otherwise, buy some beer and food from a convenience store and head to the nearest park in the evening after work. Find a spot near some young people and once they get drunk enough they’ll probably work up the courage to invite you over, or at least send the youngest employee over as a hazing ritual.

The remaining three of Todd’s Five Japanese Experiences Not To Miss will be posted tomorrow…

*Update* Part two can be found here.

There’s plenty to catch up on with the STA Travel UK World Traveller Interns Becky and Matt in their post Suits, shirts and sleeper trains as they make their way through Vietnam,

“A week further down the line and we have managed to stretch across the whole length of Vietnam, I am now sitting in my room over looking Ha Long Bay, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.”

Sounds like bliss… but as promised in the title, here is the mud…

And the ruins…

Next up is the capital Hanoi before then heading to Hong Kong. Have you been to Hanoi or Hong Kong? Let us know what you liked and what you didn’t about the destinations in the comments.

The first video is in from the STA Travel UK World Traveller Interns Becky and Matt. And their first stop is Ho Chi Minh City.

The YouTube video features Becky mastering noodles, Matt mastering the native tongue thanks to a World Cup wall chart and some particular good lip-syncing to ‘the Bublé’ come the final moments. There is also a Matt-cam shot of him crossing the street in Vietnam, something he refers to as ‘suicide’, and Becky sampling the confines of the Viet Cong tunnel systems… oh, there’s also an M16 machine gun.

Keep up with the guys at the WTI site, @statravelwtiuk, STA Travel Connect and Facebook. Enjoy the video…

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!