Ever since an early understanding that Point Break is, without exception, the best action film ever made, I’ve accepted that surfing is pretty much the coolest way to spend your time.

So when the opportunity arose to cover a few web based travel morsels on the subject, including World Surf Travel Blog, I stepped up. Sadly this site looks a little dormant, no posts since June. Nevertheless, there is plenty of insight (see Inca Cola’s slogan, Peru’s favourite drink - ‘With creativity, anything is possible’) all punctuated by wave walking escapades.

Next up is this short thread from LonelyPlanets’ Thorn Tree Travel forum that ties nicely in with the above, as folks give up their picks for the best Peruvian breaks. Before tackling these though, it’s probably best, in my case at least, to admit beginner status and do as Andy Brook did, have a lesson.

Once up to scratch, the World Reviewer’s Best Surfing in the World page will offer more than just rich pictures of dudes doing their thing in spectacular board and water based scenarios. It’ll be a site full of places for you to get in touch with the ‘source‘.

Anywhere but Here is always worth a read. A popular blog from 26 year old Canadian ‘wanderlusting’, it’s an addictively personal, opinionated travelogue from a self-declared free spirit:

I spent eight years getting an education “my style,” which amounts to alternating one year of university with a year of backpacking around the world. So far, my approach to life has landed me an amazing rockstar boyfriend, an insatiable wanderlust, a penchant for spontaneity and too many ideas of what I want to be when I grown up. Oh, and of course, a nagging urge to be Anywhere but Here.

Her recent post promoting the wonders of her hometown Vancouver is enough to make anyone want to visit the Canadian city which is, as she points out, constantly rated as one of the most livable cities in the world. Although she admits Vancouver has downsides - namely the traffic, house prices, and the worst drugs problem in North America - her series of stunning views and comments on the best bits of Vancouver - such as Stanley Park, the beach, Grouse Mountain, nearby Gulf Islands and the 2010 Winter Olympics - has persuaded me to chalk it down as a definite maybe for a trip next spring.

Wanderlusting also challenges other travel-nuts to resist their home-hating tendencies and ‘find the beauty in your city’. So does anyone else out there recommend their hometown as somewhere that STA travellers should add to their itinerary?

Every fancied exploring the world in a hollowed out tree trunk? Yes? Then this is the post for you, as we paddle through some travellers doing their exploration between banks, afloat on a canoe.

Travelincognito has been in his vessel on the Saale and Unstrut in Germany. On the Unstrut he entered alone and was warned that as a lone oarsman he should look out for pirates. Unnerved, he jovially responded that he himself was indeed a pirate and was (one presumes) therefore immune to fear of any water based rapscallions.

Pirates were not the concern of John and Fiona who delayed there expedition due to another threat – that of cold weather. Once on the go however, things turned out bright and, as they canoed in Canada they noted

“The whole event was just wonderful, with the sun coming out half way through the trip”

Pirates, cold weather and now Alligators in Florida from Diana Reed. Canoeing sounds thrill a minute! As a photographer, Diane made the most of the Weeki Wachee river and the connection to nature that it brought about, finding the trip,

“rejuvenating and revitalising”

Although the above, I am sure, is more than enough, there is another option being discussed on this Lonely Planet forum thread – Poland. The responses to the initial comment contain far more places than one would imagine are great to visit from canoe, in the land that gave us the gifted individuals Chopin and Polański, among others.

If you find yourself stuck in Toronto this summer, there’s no need to panic. David Reichman over at Travelpod has written an article revealing all the cool stuff to do and see.

David’s compiled an impressive selection of links to a host of activities, sights and experiences, which certainly earns him our respect. He includes plenty to entertain all sorts, whether you’re interested in architecture, nature, food, film, music, or something called Himalamazon – a word that seems to acquire several more L’s whenever I try to pronounce it.

Link to David’s article about things to do in Toronto for the summer.

The Gap Year is social media doing reality TV – with all the benefits that brings. Hosted on social networking site Bebo, The Gap Year sees a group of young travellers on their journey round the world, producing a constant stream of blog posts, video logs, and photos to keep us amused.

We first introduced you to The Gap Year last Wednesday, before the plucky (yes, I used plucky) explorers set off on their adventures. As we rejoin them after the long weekend, we see that Dave (representing Britain in this expedition – whoo! Go Dave!) has recently arrived in Canada and began, presumably, as he means to go on by hitting the bars and chatting up hot Mexican girls.

Follow Dave’s progress on his Bebo page here.

Currently in the latter half of a four-month tour of North America, Lisa Taylor and her friend are both toting accompanying TravBuddy blogs where they’re recording the progress of their journey.

The two separate journals of the same trip make for some interesting reading (if you’ve time enough to compare the two) and is not something I’ve come across often – which is exactly why I thought it worth mentioning.

If you’re considering a trip across North America, have a read of these on TravBuddy. The couple started off in Ontario, Canada for a month before moving on the US for exactly 88 days to avoid having to get hold of a Visa (if you’re a British citizen visiting the US for less than 90 days you do not require a Visa). Their full travel itinerary is available here, but so far they’ve hit Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, the Grand Canyon, and are currently at Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Find out what to expect from these locations through the words and pictures of the adventurous duo…