Continuing our Travel Tuesday feature of highlighting travel blogs we are today featuring Nomadic Matt.

Nomadic Matt is, as his blog states, about life untethered. He refers to himself as twenty-something vagabond, who has been on the road regularly since 2005,

“My original trip was supposed to last a year. I didn’t come home until 18 months later. Once back, I knew I couldn’t go back to my old life or a typical job - I wanted to travel more. Three months later, I was traveling again. I haven’t stopped since.”

His about page passes on more info on how he came to where he is now an also features interesting facts. Did you no Nomadic Matt once got lost in a jungle?

Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site contains tips, his blog, photos, videos and more all on where he’s been and what he’s done. You can find him on YouTube, Twitter @nomadicmatt, Facebook and FriendFeed. If you want to know insider knowledge about a specific destination, from hostels in NZ to learning to scuba-dive its likely Matt will be able to help you out.

Matt, on this fine Travel Tuesday, you’re our man.

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!

STA Travel has outlined the itinerary that will become an amazing collection of pins in a map for the two winning candidates who take up the World Traveller Intern positions on offer.

The launch party is tomorrow, Australia Day nonetheless, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there. It’s an open invite so if you’re worried about coming on your own, bring a friend, bring three if you like. It promises to be an enticing look at what the World Traveller Internship is going to entail, from the application process to, for the successful applicants, stepping on that plane beginning three months of paid travel.

Come down to the STA Travel Victoria store tomorrow to join the fun, it’s all set to kick off at 7:30pm. There’ll be some food and drink, music from our Spotify playlist (please add your own travelling tracks) and a lot of travel based excitement. All the details are on this wiki along with a guest list, to which you can add your own name should you wish to confirm your attendance.

It’s like Chris, our STA Explorer Hang 10 and Party, says,

“[…] the STA Travel internship is basically the most traveltastic job you could hope for. More adventures than your bank balance can afford and more exciting than reviewing street mimes for a Lonely Planet Guide - the internship will see two lucky backpacker types jetting around the globe on an STA funded all inclusive tour.”

He’s got it about right. And we’ve not even mentioned that itinerary yet! SE Asia >> Australia >> New Zealand >> Latin America >> Miami – see Cam’s reaction to it below or on our newly setup Qik profile.

Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow night, be sure to send us an email or a tweet if you want to know more.

Just wanted to send out a reminder to all those with a love of travel and a desire to get away. The launch of STA Travel’s World Traveller Internship is happening on Tuesday 26th January in the STA Travel Victoria store from 7:30PM.

Two individuals will take up positions with the brand as a World Traveller Intern and go around the globe, adding their own insider knowledge to STA Travel’s expertise. If you reckon this could be you then pop down to the store on Tuesday night and hear straight from the horse’s mouth what you’re going to need to do to get the run on everyone else.

You can look at all the details on this wiki, as well as add you’re name to the list of attendees. We’ve also created a Spotify playlist for the night so we’ve all got something to dance the night away to, while making our way through the free food and drink. If you’re coming along then simply follow the link and add your own travelling tracks to the list.

Cam and I look forward to seeing you there!

All good things should have a launch party, and STA Travel’s World Traveller Internship is no different!

We’ve already given you a glimpse of what STA Travel’s World Traveller Internship is, but a quick recap can’t hurt. STA Travel is looking to fill two intern positions. They’ll be an application process that will be structured to allow you to stand out from the crowd. You’ll have to show off your love of travel and demonstrate that you have the inclination to bring something new and exciting to STA Travel’s expertise in the travel space to get ahead of the rest.

Interested? Then what better way to start your journey than attend the launch party…

It’s all happening at the STA Travel Store in Victoria London, TUESDAY 7:30PM 26th JANUARY, 2010.

Additionally to this there is a wiki for the event, where you can find out a little more, see who else is going along and add your own name to the list of attendees.

Besides the usual drinks and nibbles they’ll be a look at what the USA STA Travel interns got up to last year and a presentation about what the UK version is going to entail. We’ve also fired up Spotify to create a collaborative playlist for the evening’s musical accompaniment. The STA travelbuzz team has started things off with a selection based around jobs and travel. We’d love you to add your own tracks, whether following our thematic lead or including songs that are relevant to your own travelling adventures.

That’s about it for now, the event is an inclusive shindig so bring along pals and pass on the information to anyone who you feel would be interested. If you want to know more details, or are unsure about anything, then send us a message on Twitter @statravelbuzz #STAWTILaunch or drop us an email.

Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Welcome to a new STA travelbuzz feature! As part of Travel Tuesday from this day forward we’ll be highlighting the work of a fellow online travel type and basically giving them a virtual high-five for doing what they’re doing.

The first person we’re slapping palms with is Melvin, the man behind Traveldudes, a splendid resource for the travelling type. The site is a collection of entries written by travellers for travellers and is split into four categories – Travel Tips, Accommodation, Travel Diaries and Videos. These are also divided by continent and country, and if that wasn’t enough the whole site is searchable anyway, making it a great venue for discovering information you didn’t already know on a specific destination.

We got in touch with Melvin via Twitter, where he’s exceptionally prolific, and basically realised he’s our kind of guy. He loves the community aspect of getting involved online, sharing knowledge and helping one another out when it comes to exploring the planet – exactly our kind of guy!

Melvin, as part of Travel Tuesday, we salute you.

This is a quick check in with STA Explorer Laura who has done a bungee jump in Queenstown! It’s on the ‘must-do’ list of a lot of travellers so if you want to know what it’s like first hand then look no further.

Laura did hers at Kawarau Bridge, the original AJ Hackett Bungee jump site. It was about 47 metres high, though is actually a location 400m above Queenstown, which gives it some spectacular views. It is also the only jump where you wear a harness as opposed to an ankle strap.

So how did she find it?

“The bungee itself was the scariest thing I’ve done, almost stopped on the run up so instead of the elaborate star jump I had planned, I half fell off instead, screaming my head off as I went! Seeing all the trees rush up at you is insane, a lot scarier than the skydive! But was amazing, I wanted to do another one straight away!”

It’s a recommendation for sure! There is also plenty in the post on where to party and what to do in Queenstown, so if you’re heading that way then it is worth a read. Especially if you’re into mini-golf and crepes…