STA Explorers Neil and Meg (or, as you and I have come to know them, The Travelling Duo) have travelled their way back to whence they came, Hampshire.

Through their blog, Neil and Meg’s World Travels, they’ve treated us to varied delights and, judging by the content of Neil’s last post, may be dishing out even more, with plans for a soirée across Europe, a skiing trip and Arctic/Antarctic cruise!

The final post sees Neil debating a poser from a friend, who asked what the worst part of the trip had been, (as opposed to the best, which was a question they were concerned Neil would have responded to a-plenty since his return). He was unable to answer, good memories blocking out anything that might have been less pleasurable. Instead, he offers a choice of two highlights from the trip:

“The best thing on the trip was either standing on top of Sydney Harbour Bridge at sunset or watching the dramatic colour changing light show of Uluru at sunrise (better than sunset!). The worst thing about the trip: I still can’t think of one!!”

He even has time to give a nod to STA’s Matt, making the the experience a joy even before leaving:

“The excellent STA Travel agent, Matt, in Kingston who was so helpful giving us advice, recommendations, ideas and not rushing us…”

The advice from Neil and Meg after their experience of a ‘gigantic holiday’? Everyone should do it. And if you want to know why, then rummage through the blog entries that punctuate the journey they took. You can also flick through their Picasa Album for some visual temptation that will lead you to strap on those boots that were made for walking.

STA Explorers Neil and Megan have reached the ’summer holiday’ part of their round the world trip - the bit where they relax in the sun after all their energetic globe-trotting - and Naples, Florida is obviously an excellent place to do it.

Before completely chilling they packed in a last bit of culture on the west coast, discovering native American history at the Ah-Tah-Tee-Kee Museum in the Seminole Indian Reserve, and taking a ‘Billie Swamp Safari’ tour by both boat and air, fending off alligators and spotting bison, water buffalo, deer, pigs, wild horses and ostriches.

However, now they’ve hit the beach and recommend Naples to any travellers looking for a restful pit-stop. On a solo walk along the shore, Neil had a close encounter with a dolphin; Megan has been checking out the shops and the personal trainers at the Ritz;and they’ve both been para-sailing in tandem. Not to mention Neil’s first ever pedicure, after which

I did, however, still have to make myself feel more manly by reading ‘Sports Illustrated’ and other manly magazines whilst having my feet done

Head over to their blog and 91-photo Picasa photo album if you want relaxing recommendations for Florida-based fun.

Ah, holiday photos. Remember the bad old days, when you had to spend 3 hours with your Auntie Maureen on her return from Blackpool, ploughing through 300 super-large glossies of ‘funny’ seagulls? Or 5 hours wading through the three-volume, smugger than smug snaps of your post-gap year pal who wanted you to see every single ‘amazing’ African child she single-handedly saved from a life of poverty and pain?

Nowadays at least we can all look at (or ignore) each other’s travel photos at our leisure, as we upload our professional-quality digital images instantly onto Facebook day by day. But you’re in danger of becoming Auntie Maureen mark 2 if you don’t keep abreast of the latest photo sites - yes, people, there is life beyond Flickr.

This is something our STA Explorers Neil and Megan know only too well. With photos from their round the world trip building up, they’ve elected to put the whole album on Picasa. The uncluttered design means that your images really do take centre stage, and the comments are much more prominent and attractive than on Flickr or Facebook. You can share your photos or download your friends’ albums very easily, and Neil particularly rates the geotagging facility, where you can display a map with pins showing where each photo was taken.

So why not try something different for your travel photos? Check out Picasa here and look at Neil’s album to see how it works.

I’m a big believer in channeling your inner child, mainly because I never grew out of wanting to play, in the sense of old-fashioned, silly, unself-conscious mucking about. It’s no surprise that I love theme parks, so it’s reassuring that our round-the-world STA Explorer, Neil, a 21-year-old graduate, chose to hit Universal Studios in Orlando to celebrate his birthday.

Neil’s post is a good read for anyone thinking of visiting the park - there’s so much on offer that it can be easy to waste your time being indecisive, or queueing for rides which are a bit pants. As his girlfriend Megan had been before, they quickly separate the hits from the dross, and particularly enjoyed the newer Incredible Hulk rollercoaster and Revenge of the Mummy ride, as well as finding that the old mechanical Jaws ride retains its charm.

They also highly recommend their on-site hotel, as ‘we ended up saving money by staying in a hotel more expensive and with more stars’ because ‘being on-site meant that our room key worked as an express pass for all the rides’. And they rate the Jurassic Park Cafe where you can actually find ’some healthy stuff along with the usual crap’ for lunch!

Check out their story if you’re a big kid looking for fun, and let us know your own favourite places for some serious regression.

Oh, the jokes are just too easy. I’m not gonna go there.

Instead, just go here to read Neil and Megan’s tale of their experiences in ‘The Valley of Taste’ in Perth, sampling West Australia’s finest wines. The STA Explorers learn the six S’s: size, swirl, sniff, sip, swish, swallow - quite rightly believing that spitting is for wusses - as they tour 4 family-run wineries.

After all that wine, they end up in the cells - no, not after a vintage port-fuelled rampage, but when they go on to visit Fremantle Prison, a landmark of convict history, established in 1850. They describe their torchlit evening tour in detail and highly recommend it to other travellers, especially as they hear ‘the spookiest, most weird, scary story I’ve heard in a long time’ beside the gallows.

A great couple of tip-offs for unmissable Ozzie experiences.

Our intrepid round the world STA Explorers Neil and Megan have posted about a real highlight of their trip: watching sunset over Kata-Tjuta, and sunrise over Uluru - and they recommend shelling out a bit extra for the experience:

Whilst in England we booked our outback tour through STA Travel so this is something that has been planned and we’ve been looking forward to for a long time…I’m glad we paid a little extra and went on a proper tour than a cheap, budget backpacker one. We didn’t have to worry about anything but enjoying the amazing experience of exploring Uluru and Kata-Tjuta.

Their two-day safari in the Australian national park, meaning ‘many heads’ for its distinctive rock formations, gave them a chance to explore ‘how it was formed, wildlife and aboriginal beliefs’ from their tour guide. It’s true that such awesome natural experiences are difficult to describe without sounding like a hysterical idiot or a greeting card - as Neil says, ‘what we saw is difficult to put into words’ - but it’s worth visiting the post as he gives it a damn good try, and you do get a sense that it’s ‘an incredible feeling to stand and watch something so famous across the world for myself’.

And if you’re interested in travelling in Oz in general check their previous posts for tales from Sydney, Tasmania, Cataract Gorge, Alice Springs and ‘A Perfect Day in Melbourne.’

With a massive imaginary Monday morning fanfare we would like to introduce our very first STA Explorers, Neil Usborne and his lovely girlfriend Megan (dah-dah-daaaaaah!). Look to your right and you’ll see a picture of the ‘Travelling Duo’ which you can click on to follow their round the world blog.

With STA Explorers we’re hoping to build a community of people who have booked through STA Travel, are currently on their travels, and are using social media to record all the tales, tips, photos, videos and more of their experiences that can act as a source of advice and inspiration for all of us travel-loving types on the web. We’re picking folks of different ages and interests who are covering a variety of destinations, and we’re always looking for more, so if you fit the criteria above, drop us an email and you too could be an STA Explorer.

Neil and Megan are great STA Explorers because their round the world trip is a proper, happy-making example of Livin’ The Dream, and their blog is lively, detailed and down-to-earth. On graduating from uni, they decided to ‘take some time out before getting a job in the real world’ and planned a flexible itinerary with STA, including an Aussie ‘East Coast Discovery Pass’, insurance, youth travel cards, visas and hostels (read details of their itinerary and costs here). They set off in February and have already been to Spain, Dubai, Singapore and Australia, arriving in Tasmania 2 days ago. Their latest posts see them leaving Sydney, listing their top must-dos such as best restaurant, beach and experience, and spending three days in St Kilda, where they loved the luxury of their guesthouse, Olembia, but got a little impatient to move on.

Their report from Tasmania is coming soon and do check out their blog if you’re curious about any of the previous destinations, as they’ve organised their past posts into easy-to-find destination categories. And let us know if you’d like to join our merry band of STA Explorers, dedicated to combining travel and the web for the benefit of fellow travel nuts. All for one, etc! (cue waving of laptops in the air).