Surfing in Byron Bay is probably one of the more dreamt about lifestyles when it comes to imagining an alternative existence down-under. If you’ve a penchant for the beach bum scene and surf movies then a summer spent carving the waves in Byron has probably wafted through the landscape of your daydreams.

It had for Chris. However he’s no longer just dreaming it he’s out there living it. And the idyllic Byron scene has recently had an important addition for Chris – a long lasting swell,

“This basically means my daily life has turned into a beautifully repetitive routine. Get up, work, surf through lunch, work, sneaky evening surf, a little more work, party. It really is living the dream. Cash in my pocket and a good wave count to match.”

Chris did the honorable thing and forwent catching more surf to snap a couple of his fellow boarders about to depart Byron. Only fair I think. The photos are on their way, but the above is a taster.

If all this surf lifestyle talk has you tempted you can begin looking into the possibilities Byron has to offer in the way of surfing and more besides on the STA Travel website.

It is time for an update on the activities of some of our STA Explorers and how their travelling experiences are currently panning out.

First a relative newbie to the clan – say hello to Nicole! She’s an Aussie who is heading to London after summer camp in the US. From our great capital she’ll set off again on adventures that will hopefully see her,

“… teach English, learn to snowboard in the Swiss Alps, master a foreign language and help save the giant pandas in China!”

All of this will be documented across Bitten by the Travel Bug, @NicoleTravelBlog and Facebook.

Alex of the South American loveliness that is afowen.com has added significant amounts to the sites What to do in Bogotá page. Basically it’s a must read if you’re visiting!

Michael has updated his Facebook photos with what he refers to as leftovers from Mongolia. Leftover doesn’t really do them justice as the images are great. I’ve included one below (statues/monuments are nothing without horses in my opinion), though I’d also like to recommend this super shot that has one commenter asking, ‘Did you accost a local?’

Travelling Editor Dylan has also updated, going into detail about the preparation and subsequent effects of kava. Something he experienced while in Fiji.

It was also experienced by our very own Cam and Siobhan at the Adventure Travel Show…

Finally if you’ve travelled and filled the less hectic days with music and film,the sharing of which with fellow backpackers is something Chris sees as a mainstay of travelling, you’ll enjoy his latest Top Ten Tuesday – Film’s and TV.

There is more from th STA travelbuzz tribe on our  travelling experiences page. If your interested in joining the STA Explorer fold, just leave us a comment below or get in touch via email or Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you.

If it is travelling experiences that you’re after then look no further than our band of STA Explorers. We’ve got updates on three today – Jimmy, Michael and Kez.

Jimmy is a legend among mere mortals! His travelling, for want of a better metaphor, goes that little bit further…

To get the full flavour he’s put together a video of his travels and it is a brilliant watch. There is tribal tattoos (real tribal tattoos), playing with a leopard (possibly a Jaguar? Answers on a postcard…) and a 500km, 6 week horseback trek from Cuzco to Puno in Peru…

Second up is Michael, he’s our STA Explorer Stranger in Moscow. Originally Michael had planned to go across continents with a buddy, but things didn’t work out on the travel plans front for his pal. However, like a true adventurer, such adversary only spurred him on and if you read his Twitter @AlpeOnTour he’s currently in Ulaan Bataar Mongolia, prepping for horse riding.

The excellent image above was taken from Michael’s set on Facebook – go make friends and tell him how much you love his hat – I think there might be a story behind the hat…

Finally we have Kez. She’s the good half of the partnership that is her and STA Explorer Chris (who took a surfboard to the face recently, ouch! Be warned kids, fun can be dangerous). She’s witnessed him updating his blog and Twitter while travelling and decided she should get involved too. You can find her musings as she hangs out in Byron Bay at In the Words of Kez and on Twitter @kezisms. We’ll be giving her the STA Explorer name of Australian Artisan due to her artistic talents.

If you’ve got travelling experiences to share then we’d love to have you as an STA Explorer – just leave a comment below or drop us an email, jayne@statravelbuzz.co.uk.

At STA travelbuzz we’re very proud of the tribe of STA Explorer’s we’ve built up and there has been quite a bit of activity recently – and this calls for a round up of travelling experiences.

Firstly our two latest additions, Henrietta and Stu have been busy updating. Henrietta has done so from Nha Trang in Vietnam and Sihanoukville in Cambodia, where a slower pace of life has taken over. Stu on the other hand has already updated 15 times in May alone on his adventures through Europe by rail.

Toni has provided visual flavour to here travels with a recent Flickr update. Her photostream takes in a Big Buddha, Hong Kong Sevens rugby, sunsets in Koh Tao and a huge Manta Ray!

There are apologies from George for a lack of updates, but promises ‘more than more than 9 words describing the best thing ever‘ shortly and more travel too as soon as his funds are replenished.

It’s Travel Tuesday for Chris and this means a post on the best ways to travel Australia. Yes, there are at least 10 ways of moving your travelling self about the land down under.

And finally we have Maz, a recently returned £10 Pom who has enlisted the services of the BorderJumpers, Bernard and Danielle who are travelling to nearly all 54 countries in Africa, to provide a guest post on Zambia.

All excellent stuff. If you’d like to be part of the STA Explorer community and share your travelling experiences then send us an email telling us so!

If you’re planning a trip down under then it is worth while reading Chris’s advice for those Going to Australia. The advice is split across a trio of posts available at his blog, The Wanderings of a Devonshire Boy.

His first post covers the mainstays of prepping any lengthy period of travel – VISAS, FLIGHTS and PLANNING. It’s all helpful stuff and stresses the importance of making sure you’ve got a Visa, because as he points out,

“You ain’t getting into Oz without one of these, so get it sorted as soon as you know your departure date. If you get rejected then all else is pointless and you could waste a lot of money.”

Part two addresses the more practical side of financial concerns for when you arrive – BUDGETTING, INSURANCE and BANK ACCOUNTS. This post is full of helpful tips on making sure you get the most out of your dollars while in the land of Oz.

Finally he has part 3 that covers BACKPACKS and TRAVEL ESSENTIALS,

“When you tell people you’re going travelling they give you all sorts of stuff to take with you and suggest a whole heap of stuff.

You soon find out what was useful and what wasn’t. I’ve been here for 6 months now so I’m going to try and help by telling you what I use most and what is still in the bottom of my bag!”

The above should give you an idea of what Chris has discussed, but basically, if you’re going to Australia then he’s likely to have covered something relevant to you. And if not, I’m sure he’d be happy to try and help. You can contact him through his blog or via @curiouscheese.

We haven’t checked in on our Wandering Devonshire Boy for a while, but that’s fine because he’s been quietly having a brilliant time in Noosa, Australia.

As a surfer he’s been our go-to-dude when considering all things sea-related. He’s currently about half way through a year long trip discovering all he can down under. And his latest discovery is the mellow happiness that has come with catching waves in Noosa. He’s made no secret of the fact that surfer’s paradise just wasn’t what he was expecting or hoping for.

And, as you can probably tell from the title Why I fell in love with Noosa…, the shire a little north of Brisbane has more than made up for his disappointment. Chris was there to sample the “8 days of pure stoke” offered by the 2010 Longboarding Festival. This is covered in posts here and here.

But it wasn’t the festival that made Noosa for Chris – it was the vibe of the whole place and the people there,

“Noosa keeps the original stoke it was founded upon and refuses to be tarnished by modern day, commercial surf culture. I hope it stays this way and that surfers can pass on a piece of its lifestyle when they continue on their journey – but it should be a planned stop on anyone’s Oz adventure, whether you surf or not, you’ll leave better for it.”

There isn’t really much better recommendation than that. If you’re heading to Noosa get in touch with Chris @curiouscheese and ask him anything you want. Or, if you’ve already been let us know what you thought – did you have a similar experience to Chris?

He’s also updated his hostel review post with, since he’s living out of a van, campsite information too for anyone looking for no nonsense information on where to pitch a tent or lay their head.

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.