If the same old family holiday in the UK felt just a bit dull this year, you might want to start thinking about ideas for a trip in December 2009. Click on the custardy coloured bits below to find out just how much fellow STA travellers enjoyed their Christmases and New Years:

Relaxing on a white sand beach in Bermuda…

Visiting an orphanage in Phnom Penh…

Splashing in the pool on top of Mount Isa…

Ripping it up in Dublin… or

Coughing from the pollution in Kathmandu Valley…

… and don’t be afraid to leave comments or questions for our Explorers on their blogs to get further advice and opinion about how they found their festive time abroad.

STA Explorer, Gadget Boy Goes Global has, after a snippet post blaming the Easter Island heads for a brief blogging hiatus, updated us to his whereabouts. The latest Random Projects post is a swift, 35 Second Update.

In it we learn much itinerary based information, such as on the 14^th December, GBGG was precisely 3 months and 4 days into his trip. And that an entire extra country had been squeezed into the plans!

“Instead of bussing all the way back from the bottom of Bolivia to La Paz to fly to Santiago in Chile we did a short hop over the border from Tupiza in Bolivia to Argentina. It also meant we could stay with our traveling buddy Tam a few more days and eventually get some much needed chillout time by the pool.”

His update came from Tahiti where they were due to head off from for Aitutaki, the choice for Crimbo. There the intention is to relax for 10 days before heading to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for some New Year action.

Finishing with promises of lots of things to post, we look forward to some more Gadget Boy based shenanigans. Tahiti wireless access permitting…

Yep, our tenacious tech-loving traveller Tim, aka Gadget Boy Goes Global, has finally conquered his GPS issues and posted up a map of his round the world route, crafted from all the data he’s been logging so far. Abandoning Google Maps for EveryTrail.com to create the map, Tim has also calculated his average speed, ascent and descent… find out more in his post here.

And if you’re after a bit of light relief, his comedy pictures of Bolivian salt flats are a must. The video below gives you an idea of the genius humour of this man…

We’ve (well Mols) only just updated you on the actions of our most recent busy STA-er Tim Minter, and he’s at it again! This time all over Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca and spending the day floating around on it is the subject of Tim’s latest Random Projects post and contains fine details such as:

“Straddling Peru and Bolivia, I’m sure rivalries have been serious in the past. Today though, it seems that the main preoccupation is who has the Titi (titi) and Caca (poo) part.”

So that’s a tick and tick for educational and marginally less educational. To see what Titicaca looks like drop through here to view some of Tim’s splendid photographs.

STA Explorer Tim Minter has been a busy social media bee, updating his blog with a host of posts and photos about trekking in Culca Canyon, exploring the salt flats of Bolivia, touring the Arequipa nunnery and horse riding in Tupiza. If you’re interested in a sporty South American trip, Tim’s Random Projects blog is definitely the place to be.

He’s also published a really useful post about crossing the Peru to Bolivia border, which is notoriously expensive and prone to scams. He opted for:

a “luxury” hydro foil trip that took you to Isla Sol (the birthplace of the Incas), which we really wanted to go to anyway and gave you lunch and dinner and on the way. And basically walked you through the border crossing, holding your hand all the way. We booked this at great expense, but had no regrets at all.

To find out why, click through here…

STA Explorer Gadget Boy Goes Global has been a busy bee recently; just have a look at his travel blog, Random Projects, to see the full extent of his connected status.

In the first of three posts, Gadget Boy lets his camera do the talking, capturing some excellent jungle activity. The pictures he’s collated come from Cuyabeno National Park in Ecuador’s part of the Amazon Jungle:

“We went for the 5 day trip rather than the normal 4 days it seems that people do. Four days would be enough but the extra day we had just added to the relaxation. It was just the two of us and the guide on the last day so we got a really personal experience on the last trek. We could go slow and stop and look at everything. Not so much ran away either with only two pairs of clod hopping feet to scare them!”

Sadly however, there was a casualty. While taking a picture of a rather ‘fancy-dan’ caterpillar, Gadget Boy’s LX3 camera took a tumble and never recovered. See the photos that add up to its swan song here…

It’s always nice to instil a bit of wonder at the end of the week. STA Explorer Tim has hit the Galapagos, and his series of posts (complete with photos) are full of true wonder and delight at these extraordinary islands.

Tim recommends the Angelique, the characterful boat he chose for his 8 day tour, and waxes lyrical about the unique atmosphere of each island and the rare animals that let you come right up close. However, as he says, it is ’so hard to describe this amazing place so some pictures may be better…’ so click through and check out some shots sure to make you feel all tingly on a cold dreary day…