Listen, all you students. You are very lucky. STA Travel will be giving away tons of ridiculously great prizes throughout this entire school year. I don’t want to give too much away, but I would definitely recommend checking in with us at least once a month to see what cool new opportunity is up for grabs, ... Read More (0 Comments)

Uploading all those photos from Prague made me feel very nostalgic for one of the loveliest places I’ve ever lived. Granted, my time in Taiwan was deliriously giddy due to the great $$ I was making and exoticness of everyday life, but Prague is infused with an irrepressible beauty of the ages.

Things didn’t start off ... Read More (3 Comments)

I’ve uploaded a gazillion photos—click on the tags below to check them out. I wanted to show you guys some of what I’m talking about with Panama and Taiwan in particular, but there are lots more. Tell me what you think. If you have better (these are scanned from hard copies and are occasionally a bit grainy) please uploa... Read More (1 Comments)

In college, I never went in for the traditional Spring Break. It’s not that I wasn’t into partying—far from it. In other months in other years my friends and I made road trips to Memphis, New Orleans, and the many giant state school college town in neighboring states (I went to college in Georgia, at the esteemed party sc... Read More (1 Comments)

Panama is central America’s hidden gem. It has long since emerged from the dark shadows of imperialism and Noriega, emerging as a the melting pot of the Americas. The colorful architecture, tropical diet, and non-stop tamborito dancing reveal a culture embracing its Carribbean, native American, and Spanish influences. I went in 2000... Read More (0 Comments)

My husband picked up the ever-appropriate Ozzie phrase “No worries!” from his Australian diving instructor while getting certified in the Phillipines. A few months later he was living in Taiwan, and spreading the good news about zero anxiety to his new friends and new girlfriend (moi). I picked up on the phrase immediately, and... Read More (0 Comments)

I asked a question in the question/answers link up there about everyone’s top five destinations they’ve been to and hope to go to (which you should go answer, post-haste!)

I realize I haven’t put any UK destinations in my top five. This is not because I don’t love the UK—they don’t call me UK_F... Read More (1 Comments)

Students in the UK and Australia (and several other countries, I’m sure) traditionally travel during their gap year—this is the year between graduating from high school (in a manner of speaking) and starting university. Not everyone does it, but many do, and it’s a sanctioned rite of passage for high school graduates the w... Read More (1 Comments)

Living in Taiwan making $24,000 a year, I was fabulously wealthy. I made enough to pay off my student loans and live high on the hog. It was a dreamy time when a girl with a 50cc scooter and a willingness to work 20 hours a week could make something of herself.

To the untrained eye, Taiwan can seem quite…well, quite ugly. ... Read More (1 Comments)

I have always been a backpacker kind of girl—I liked to arrive and find my way on my own. I thought tours were for grannies. But last year, I was lucky enough to get a familiarization (fam, to us in the biz) trip with 23 other STA advisors. We went on a Topdeck tour, going through Switzerland, Germany and t... Read More (2 Comments)