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

Lucy has returned home after escapades on the other side of the globe. Her most recent update covers the month of April and all she did in the run-up to arriving back in ‘sunny London’ to a welcome back party with friends and family…

The month involved amongst other things, dominating New Zealand’s North Island, a heroes and villains party hosted by a ‘moody 80-year-old bloke with a beard down to his shoulders who had a deep hatred for the young travellers he entertains every night of the week’, a visit to a deer catching museum, a trek up Franz Josef Glacier, Lake Matherson, a skydive, Ferg Burger, lakes Pukaki and Tikapo, sleeping in an airport, Fiji, LA and Darth Vadar on a bus. If you ever needed a reason to go travelling I think that list will probably have you packing your packs before you’ve read the end of this sentence.

A highlight from the above were the views around the lakes,

“We stopped at Lakes Pukaki and Tikapo and saw Mount Cook in the background which was some of the most stunning scenery of the whole trip.”

Lucy expects that her next post might not be quite as thrilling as she signs of from the post and her trip,

“Expect my next post to be very boring in comparison to the last four!

Lucy – Intrepid Explorer x”

Lucy you were intrepid indeed and we enjoyed every update! Finally, because I’m feeling Lucy’s geek appreciation, I’m going to leave you with the image of Darth Vadar on a bus… awesome.

If you’d like to share your travelling experiences then get in touch with us by sending Jayne an email.

A round up of what our STA Explorers takes in Top 10 iPhone travel apps, katoomba, April in Melbourne, Colombian tourist visa’s and the Mankini-ing of new territories.

Chris has given the tech traveller, flashpacker even, his top 10 iPhone travel apps. There is inclusion of social networking with Facebook and Twitter, along with Skype, GPS, the ever-so-handy Balance for keeping track of your budget and Wordpress, which means Chris can blog on the move and keep you and I up-to-date!

Our Little Jaunt have been spending time in Katoomba, giving it a second chance after they didn’t really enjoy their first visit, primarily due to awful weather. Second time around though that all changed. The area is all about the scenery and deciding on the best way to enjoy it. OLJ divulge the methods and share how they went about it, which resulted in them having a great day they’d recommend to anyone.

An update on Melbourne in April has been posted by Samantha. There is mention of the comedy festival that has ‘dominated’ events in the city recently, using the Kokoda trail as an alternative to the gym and, as a departure from the Oz lifestyle, visits to Hopetoun Tea Rooms and Treats from Home.

If you’ve ever wondered how to extend a tourist visa while in Colombia then Alex is your man. He’s posted about the whole process with forms and an explanation of what you’ll need to do and what is likely to happen. Useful stuff indeed!

And finally we have Malph. Yup, that is Malph of the International Mankini Challenge. While his Mankini-ing is currently on hold the trend is continuing, notably in Antarctica and Milwaukee.

That’s about it for now from the lovely bunch that is our STA explorers sharing their travelling experiences with one and all. If you’d like to join in then leave us a comment below or send the exceptionally excellent Jayne an email.

It’s time to pay homage to a fellow online travel troubadour and we’ve got just the guy this week – The Aussie Nomad!

The Aussie Nomad is Chris Richardson (@theaussienomad) and he’s a career breaker in his late 20s,

“Why not open the Macbook up and work from the beach or a foreign office and watch the snow fall outside. With that thought in mind and short trips to Hong Kong, Singapore and Phuket in previous years. It was obvious I was destined to try my hand at roaming the world, working and sleeping in some of the amazing places it has to offer.”

He’s followed it through too; having just landed in Paris (the subject of last week’s #traveltuesday) the adventure is well and truly underway. The blog is a work of inspiration to those that harbour dreams of leaving the surroundings of the office cubicle for somewhat more stirring scenery.

The Aussie Nomad is full of interaction and discussion on the art of travel, with plenty of comments and opinion, which is what we love to see. I have no doubt it is his call to the travel enthused and like-minded that has fostered such affection,

“Follow me as I leave a little country town in Australia and head to London, Singapore, Kansas (Kansas, are you serious…) and beyond in search of a new job and a new adventure.”

Chris we are and we’re enjoying it greatly. Ladies and gentleman of the travelbuzz readership I give you this weeks hero of voyage -The Aussie Nomad.

#traveltuesday

If you’re looking to travel and surf then this might be the post for you. In our stable of travelling experiences we have a few guys who’ve slung on some doggers, prayed to Kahuna and surfed until the sun tells them it’s time to go home.

AJ (@spintheglobe) is a serious surfer; he’s often regaled me with stories of south coast excursions in the middle of winter to catch some waves regardless of freezing temperatures. That is seriously dedicated. He’s a well travelled guy and has recently applied for STA Travel’s World Traveller Internship. Recently he surfed his way down the East coast of America…

Another hero on our Explorer surf team is Chris (@curiouscheese); he’s currently carving his way through Australia. It didn’t all go according to plan though as his timing in terms of finding the surf seemed a little off. You can read about this in his article on the Drift Europe website,

“Sure, western Oz has some of the most insane line-ups you could ever get your stick wet in, and the mutant slabs of Margaret River offer suicidal-looking, dredging barrels on the right swell. But there wasn’t any. It looked promising for one brief day, but there was no way I was going to tackle 6-foot shore dumps in just inches of water – I left that to the local spongers.”

Finally we have George (@Gvee). He’s new to the art. In fact it was only last week he caught his first wave and referred to his surf experience as his new favourite thing,

“Words cannot express how happy surfing has made me feel, so I am not going to try. Instead I will leave you with this: do it. Just do it.

George out.”

Are you looking to travel and surf, or have you already been on a surfari? Tell us about it.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a guest a post, but when Mark got in touch we decided that time was over. Mark provides creative services across the board in the world of architecture, as well as harbouring a keen interest in travel photography. He sent us through a few pictures he’d taken and some snippets of text explaining the images. I’ve included three of my favourites below.

CANMORE, CANADA – Dog Sledding

Adreninlin was absolutely pumping through my body watching and waiting while the dogs were being prepared for myself to drive and naviagate the sled. Although I am a big dog lover, at first I was afraid to get close to them, as they were continuously barking and howling…all 80 of them!

Few minutes in I took the courage to give them a pat and discovered they are extremely gentle creatures. Once we were taught all the commands and safety rules we were off. Simply couldn’t fathom the amont of speed the sled picked up. This is truly one of the best ways to see the Canadian wilderness.

INSTANBUL, TURKEY – Blue Mosque

I’m going to admit I was a little nervous at first visiting a partly Islamic country, but that’s what travelling is about. Putting yourself out there for new experiences. The Turkish are extremely friendly people, especially towards Australians. Just loved the ‘lounge’ bars in the quarter.

A highlight of the city was meeting an Iranian who completely turned away from his Islamic beliefs then a young Englishman who had recently converted to Islam. Not knowing each other, they were having at least an hour long debate why Islam is the fastest and biggest growing Religions, for tomorrow’s world.

Istanbul is evidence that we can all get along no matter which background of beliefs. Especially hearing the calling of Islamic prayer time know as ‘Salat’ being delivered seven times a day, while the general population just gets along with their daily duties.

NEW YORK CITY, USA – Brooklyn Bridge

To many the Brooklyn Bridge is a symbol of one the greatest feats of engineering in the 19th century. The majestic beauty of the bridge also reminds us of the effort made by Italian, German, and Irish immigrants…what can be achieved putting our minds together. Walking over the bridge is just as spellbinding.

You get get in tough with Mark via his website BaldockCreative.

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.