Hitchhiking may immediately set of alarm bells for some, especially those familiar with the work of Rutger Hauer. However, we’ve met a few individuals, including former Lonely Planet writer Robert Strauss, who reckon it’s great. Also among these is Dylan, or the Travelling Editor to give him is Twitter name. Sad at the belief that it is becoming ‘a lost art’, he’s put together his top tips on hitchhiking,

“Tested and road-proof, here’s my version of ten nudge-nudge-wink-wink’s on how to not only have a successful hitchhike, but also a emotionally and spiritually satisfying one.”

The tips are great fare for anyone tempted by getting from ‘here’ to ‘there’ by standing roadside and sticking up a thumb. I think my favourite tip among Dylan’s pearls of wisdom is ‘Minimal Planning’. He makes hitchhiking sound so simple, and maybe it is,

“You begin from origin A and you end up in destination B. Sweet as. Now drop the fretting, stop scrawling red lines all over your map and take yourself to spot A.”

Apparently the unpredictability is what it is all about. So what you waiting for, read Dyl’s tips and see where you can get to for free. Paul Smith, the Twitchhiker, got from Newcastle to New Zealand no less! It’s all quite exciting - maybe we should do a STA travelbuzz hitchhike? If you fancy giving it a go be sensible, stay safe and make the world your playground.

Although they may sound like incomprehensible characters from a Matrix sequel, the Nomad and the Editor are actually Matt from Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site and Dylan @travelingEditor. And this casual tweet from Matt on Friday had by Saturday turned into a few beers and travel chat between Matt, our very own Cam and STA Explorer Dylan.

This social media in action serving all took place in Victoria Station, (The Shakespeare to be absolutely precise) and came about because Matt was left with time to kill between returning from Vienna and then flying to Thailand. The discussion was a mix of travel and social media, and how the two mix. While in Thailand, Matt is actually hooking up with a friend he made through Twitter.

One particular topic covered was the types of food that they’d all digested while travelling. Cam declared croc meat was way too fishy for her delicate palette and Dylan and Matt were both fond of a bit of kangaroo when cooked rare. Matt also added that fried maggots tasted like French fries. Croc and kangaroo I can do… maggots maybe not.

The evening ended with a bottle of Speights, beer brewed in New Zealand, something that Dylan was happy about as he’d spotted it earlier. To go with the final shared beverage, plans were made by all to meet again in both New Zealand and Greece if possible. Couple this with the STA Explorers in Aus, travelbuzz is racking up destinations for our world tour…

As part of STA Travel’s 30^th anniversary celebrations we asked our tribe of Explorers to give us their thoughts on how traversing this little old green and blue planet has changed in the last three decades. We’ve had great responses so far, among the highlights are Malph’s back-packing in 2009 and Rob Strauss on hitch-hiking, but now it is the turn of Dylan – the Ramblin’ Rucksack Man.

He begins his post with a tale of a heady night in the house of Junior, a Fijian and staff member of the Coral View Resort. Junior’s Father was in full flow showing proudly a collection of items, one of which was a ‘beautifully preserved guestbook’ from when the household used to double as a guesthouse in the 80s. The book to him,

“represented the regretfully passed days of travel, when travellers could legitimately title themselves as adventurers.”

Not missing the opportunity, Dylan asked the question and in his words,

“[…] grew fascinated with the priceless perspective of a local on how travelling has changed since thirty years ago.”

Dylan relays exactly that perspective on the changing face of the practice of exploring foreign destinations and their cultures. It raised seriousness, nostalgia and some points worth considering about the connections made between nations through the global paths we tread. Let Dylan know your thoughts by leaving a comment on his excellent (and cleverly titled) post - [Insert travel-related title here].

We tweeted about Dylan, or the Ramblin’ Rucksack Man to give him his STA Explorer name, and his recent nomination for Travel Writer of the Year in the Guardian Student Media Awards.

In celebration Dylan has reblogged the article that got him the nomination and it’s a great read. It’s all about his charity hitch-hike to Morocco hosted by Link Community Development, a charity that raises money to help improve education in African countries. The journey was certainly filled with highs and lows, physical and mental. Dylan describes travelling partner Anna’s delight after one particular long wait for a lift,

“That exhilaration is what found throughout the trip: it gives proof that, the bitterer a situation gets, the tastier the sweetness when it bears fruit. Wetness, coldness, sleeplessness, we endured them all – the belief that our frustration would soon end, and tables would turn, kept us going.”

To read it all, something I’d certainly recommend, click through.

Our Fiji bound Ramblin’ Rucksack Man, or Dylan to those who knew him before he took on the STA Explorer mantle, has updated twice since we last covered him here.

Beside the exhaustive post on his trips to Rangitoto and Devonport that we’ll get to in a bit, he’s compiled a rather excellent list of 21 things that make him what he is today. It was all prompted by his recent birthday.

But enough revelry! We’re all about the travel and thankfully so is Dylan! If you skip over to his site you’ll be able to take in his escapades climbing Rangitoto,

“The morning breeze hit me with a vengeance, [but] the sun and cloudless skies were encouragements to my adventurous spirit. And I knew it - it’s going to be a great day for climbing a volcano (well, a dormant one)!”

If this wasn’t adventure enough, he also decided to stop for coffee in Devonport, and scale Mt. Victoria. Now I could tell you about either of these, but I’ll let you read his words instead, because I’d rather leave you with a quote about a curious discovery,

“We each paid NZ$5 for one of the most bizarre five minutes of our lives - laid belly-down in the machine, a plastic sack filled with water would hammer your body from heel to neck in a massage phenomenon I can only describe as ‘wow’.”

Intrigued? Click through!

Our newest STA Explorer, Dylan - or as we like to call him, the Ramblin’ Rucksack Man - has put together a plan.

He mentioned that before leaving Auckland for Fiji he was going to take in some of the local surroundings in full discovery mode. Well, he’s decided where and is looking to take in some spots

“[…] where tourism has hardly left a trace.”

These are Davenport - a beautiful town on the North Shore, Takapuna - where he’ll find fossil-trees (sounds intriguing) and finally the volcanic island of Rangitoto. And all this before he sets off proper. Good work Dyl, we’re beginning to think our name might be more apt than we originally thought.

To drop the Ramblin’ Rucksack Man a message and stay up-to-date with his Auckland forays click through to Dylan Goes Walkabout.

Our latest STA Explorer is ready to grace our hallowed pages and is, by his own account, getting somewhat excited due to an overload of anticipation.

“Remember that last time when you’re looking forward to a ‘big day’? When something so exciting and unfamiliar is coming up your already lackluster everyday life seems to slow down ten-fold? Remember that feeling?
That’s what I’m getting now, more so than ever.”

Dylan will be going by the Explorer name of Ramblin’ Rucksack Man due to his tendency to spend too much time carrying about said shoulder slung bag and his first port of call for him will be Nadi in Fiji. Setting off in just under a fortnight from Auckland, Dylan has decided to take a couple of day trips around the city to get him into the travelling mindset. Something we’ll look forward to hearing about.

You can keep tabs on Dylan’s wandering at his site Dylan Goes Walkabout - The Tales and by following him on Twitter. Or, if this has got you all a fluster with a desire to travel, why not consider becoming one of our STA Explorers just like Dylan?