Posts tagged sta travel
Taking in DFW
YeeHaa!
With orientation under our belts, we hit the streets of Dallas.
Our first taste of adventure and culture consisted of honky tonks, baseball, and some good ole fashioned Texan hospitality. The main attraction was Dallas’ eclectic cuisine. Everything from all day brunch (Nick and Sam’s Grill), to family style mexican food (Mattito’s) kept our bellies full and taste buds wanting more. We even had pizza (Eno’s) that could easily compete with Chicago or New York.
In between meals we found ourselves on the quest for the true Texan experience, and what better a way to start than with some baseball. Warm weather, footlong hot dogs and cold beer, so far so good.
Our next adventure threw us smack dab in the middle of cowboy country, Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk. More of a theme park then anything else, Billy Bob’s has it all. Arcades, whiskey, bull riding, a gift shop and as luck would have it, Pat Green headlining as the music showcase. We closed our weekend with a little historic stop at the Sixth Floor Museum, the location where President Kennedy was assassinated. As a disclaimer, the grassy knoll is more of a grassy patch.
The folks at STA Travel gave us a great tour, and now we’re ready to make this trip international! Europe here we come!
World Traveler Intern and TV Star
I remember the excitement in elementary school from making it on the local TV channel during our Indian and Pioneer reenactments; oh, what a thrill.
However, my experience two weekends ago was infinitely cooler as I took a very “Alice in Wonderland” wide-eyed gaze around the WISH-TV set. I was probably just projecting, but those anchors and backdrops looked crisper and more vibrant than the rest of the visible world (must be because they’re in High Def).
After speeding through Indianapolis on a Sunday morning (mistakenly wearing flip-flops out the door and having to meet my mom half-way back home for a shoe switch-a-roo), I went from the entrance to the set’s black couch in about 20 seconds flat.
No preparation.
No verbal briefing.
No quick powdering of the nose.
I watched coverage of the swine flu and local weather forecasts from my dark corner of the set, amazed I had a reason for being there to contribute, and was eventually joined by an anchor who quickly went through the upcoming questions.
I didn’t know where to put my hands. I saw my dark silhouette in the crew’s monitor. The lights illuminated my formerly creepy corner and revealed a set as high tech as the rest of ‘em. My lips started twitching, but knowing that would definitely show up in HD, I looked at my interviewer and mentally checked out. Luckily, autopilot kicked in.
Eventually, the lights dimmed, and I was shaking hands in closing. Unless my mind regenerated a completely fictional last three minutes of life, I actually believe I didn’t mess up! Even my brother, the one most excited to tell me my flaws in a humorous manner, complimented my comfortable and clear dialogue.
Success? Sch-wing!
Only regret: not wearing lipstick. Hello, No-Mouth.
Lindsay Clark Reacts to Being Selected as a World Traveler Intern
My mom got me hyped up on Tuesday, explaining how STA would probably contact the ten and/or the interns the day before the big announcement.
Tuesday quickly went from a low-stress, jam-packed day of watching little ones run around to one of terror and excitement for my future. With a heart truly set on this opportunity, I had to made evacuation plans for my sanity, in case I did not receive the golden ticket. I believed my heartache would need intense therapy and an immediate distraction.
Two children leaned on my arms and lap while I tried to shade a cartoon tiger and explain the effects of 2 and 3 dimensions in drawing. It went completely over their heads, but I like to pretend I can impart knowledge and appear intelligent to those decades younger than I.
The Call
The phone rang, and I nearly soiled myself. I felt sick, the sensation of vomiting pending on the yay or the nay that awaited me after pressing the green phone symbol on my big, bad mobile. I thank the sweet spirits of debilitating anticipation that Kristen didn’t make small talk before announcing I was one of the interns. Glee.
My knees nearly buckled, and I had the strong desire to lie down on the floor (a regular Clark pastime and relaxation technique). The kids stared at me in confusion and I was reminded of a Schoolhouse Rock song upon seeing, “the whites of their eyes.” Not much verbal communication happened after that from my end as I was experiencing a plethora of tingles and jingles and a flashback to my middle school stuttering days.
Now, when I got my first big part in a play, my parents heard the message on the phone machine before I got home from school. Upon getting my acceptance letter to high school, the parental units gave me the knife to open the envelope. Mama called with the results of my college acceptance while I was away on a school trip with Papa Bear. Never have I had the opportunity to utterly shock my parents with incredible news…until now.
Telling the Family
I got in the car after work, screamed in sporadic staccato, and drove home to sit on my big secret before I concocted a plan. That night I had a very important dinner with the family, one that will be a fond memory forever with the announcement that my brother and his beloved lady were having a girl.
My parents insisted I drive us to the restaurant, a bad idea considering I was completely distracted, but I managed to get in only a few near accidents without bursting the thought bubble hovering over my head.
Pulling him aside from the bar at the restaurant, I told my brother in order to explain that I didn’t want to stomp on the thunder of his big night. He and Allison, the oven of the bun, then went to the dinner table to unzip their jackets and reveal shirts reading: It’s a Girl!
Kicks to my shins implied I needed to announce my big thing, so I placed my phone in front of Mom as she told a story to the table. The phone displayed a message from the “team” wishing congratulations, but she got too carried away to notice my hint for several minutes.
Ian laughed at me from across the table, as I had to continue refreshing the backlight, but an eventual eye wandering down to the table caught a glimpse of “Congratulations“, and she stopped mid-sentence to scream, hug, and shed a lone tear.
I’m an aunt and a very lucky lady. Thank you for the opportunity to work my bootay off for all of you.
Meet Lindsay Clark, World Traveler Intern
I have never tried online dating. Maybe I should, but that’s neither here nor there.
The experience of being told you are about to travel around the world with someone you have never met must sorta be like being paired up on a date with someone you have only seen in videos – and then being told you will have date that person for the summer.
Like any prospective online dater, I trolled through the video entries obsessively and I distinctly remember seeing my future travel buddy for the first time.
Lindsay made sure the world knew her name from the beginning. What followed was three minutes of insane travel and blogging experience, this chick peaced out for seven months to travel the world (she’s seen 40 different countries), then she peaced back in to apply for this internship. That’s pretty rad.
Her next video highlighted three things I really enjoy doing and she definitely conveyed a love and appreciation for the city of Indianapolis. For those of you who have yet to realize the awesomeness that is racing, check it out. Trust us both, it rocks hard, like Twisted Sister hard.
After I learned I’d be travel dating this girl for the summer, we talked on the phone. Lindsay and I got over the first date conversation topics pretty quickly then just started collaborating on all sorts of awesome ideas we have in store for our trip. I am going to have the time of my life traveling with this girl. It worked out so well I’m thinking of registering with match.com because I know it’s OKAY to look.
This is how Lindsay rolls…
Favorite Song: Little Wing by Stevie Ray Vaughan…And the musicians that I will always love are: Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Marley, and Three 6 Mafia
Woah, Three 6 Mafia, that’s kinda highbrow isn’t it?
I am not a music snob and am uncomfortable around such people. I usually change my tastes with the season but some key music makers for me are MGMT, Led Zeppelin, Ratatat, Common, Allman Brothers, B.B. King, RJD2, Bone Thugs, Cake, The Cure, Cut Copy, David Bowie, Elton John, Girl Talk, Hello Goodbye, Jamiroquai, John Butler Trio, Lauryn Hill, Lil’ Wayne (don’t know why, but I really do), Little Barrie, Radiohead, Interpol, RHCP, Robert Randolph, Rolling Stones, Tupac, Van Morrison, Claude Debussey, Neil Young, Pink Floyd and whatnot.
Do not fist-pump in front of Lindsay! (This will be incredibly hard for me, I love the fist-pump.)
However, the songs I will refuse to listen to and will punch the DJ if they ever play them are anything that causes people to do the fist-pump, such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” anything by Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, Raven Simone, the High School Musical kids (you get the trend), songs from the play Rent or Wicked, anything done with a twangy guitar that talks about cheap beer and high school sweethearts (I do like the slide guitar but only when done well, e.g. Robert Randolph), any R&B song that features the lyrics “take off your clothes, girrrrl”, Phish (bad memories), O.A.R. (also bad memories), guys with open hearts and guitars and a following of sorority girls (though I am a sorority girl), and this list continues to grow so…stay tuned.
When she’s not punching out DJs for playing my favorite Hilary Duff song, she gets down with some pretty dope books.
The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton, Shantaram, Into Thin Air, The Agony, and the Ecstasy, Tales of a Female Nomad, Catcher and the Rye, and many others.
She all sorts of in touch with herself.
I could try to care less about basketball and baseball, but I don’t think I’d be successful. I space out when I speak and sometimes can’t wrangle a thought to save myself. My brother is my only sibling and my favorite person on this earth. His wife is pregnant and will be giving birth right when we get back from the trip. It will tear me apart if I miss it but am prepared for that possibility. I do a lot of voices without being aware of them and make noises without knowing I did. Though some are funny, a lot are annoying and a swift elbow in the gut is recommended if this occurs.
She’s got a cure for everything.
Even though I hated hearing this in China, I have gotten in the habit of spitting A LOT when sick with a nasal drip. It works.
She’s a dreamer.
I want to live in a self-made hut for a year on a beach…or in a tree. My ultimate goal in life is to be stranded in a remote location and have to hitchike in the back of a rickety truck with chickens, goats, or some sort of nervous livestock.
That’s cool. She is all about writing too.
I grew up with a dad who used words like “paraphernalia,” “orifice,” and called a good meal a “culinary extravaganza,” which has affected my speech and writing style since the dawn of both skills. When I type, I hear my dad saying the words I am using and structure sentences intentionally to make them more opaque and verbose.
Meet Chris Danner, World Traveler Intern
This is Chris Danner.
Chris posted his STA application video on January 30th, one of the firsts to display his quality for the world to see and judge. I watched it once, chortled periodically, and watched it repeatedly after. I remember showing my parents his video before the top twenty were picked, thinking he had a good thing going for him and betting he’d do well.
Top twenty rolls around and his flowin’ film is up there for the prize. Being obsessive as I often get with these travel endeavors, I took notes on each video and participant, trying to figure out what makes them tick. My notes for Chris read something like the requirements listing on the STA website; I guess he fit the mold quite nicely by my interpretation.
Brazil Cafe and his strong presence on camera solidified his standing as a true contender for an intern role; the viewers certainly agreed, as did STA. I was sitting at the kitchen table, drawing a tiger for two youngins, when a phone call rattled my soul and informed me I was going abroad with Travelin Danner himself. The wheels started a-turnin.
The following evening, our voices collided via mobile services, and the swapping began. Planets aligned, woodland creatures paused to look in my bedroom window, and an hour and a half conversation begat intense excitement for the upcoming trip that will hopefully blow viewers’ minds! I was indeed shocked and thrilled before, but my mind won’t stop running now.
Get to know the dude
He likes books.
Shantaram, East of Eden, The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bells Toll, The Divine Comedy, Lolita, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, The Tipping Point, most things Shakespeare wrote (let’s be honest, he wasn’t always on his game) anything Oscar Wilde ever wrote (he, in my opinion, was always on his game), a good amount of Chaucer, I love my Homer and Virgil, I enjoy Decadent literature in general, as far as more recent writers I’ll get to them after I read all the people who influenced them.
His ears work.
Partial to classic rock, jazz, blues, country (don’t hate it if you haven’t listened to it), electronica, hip-hop (the good stuff, don’t bore me with whatever you just heard on the radio, if it’s legit…I’ve been knowing about it), trance, the best music of the 80’s in the worst kind of way.
He thinks when he wanders.
Travel Philosophy: The person who is gunna figure out the meaning of life is gunna have a dirty passport. If I haven’t been somewhere, that’s reason enough to go there, if I haven’t tried something, that’s probably reason enough to try it. Res ipsa loquitur.
Dead people inspire him.
“No man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.” – John Donne
Favorite motivational speech: St. Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V. Read it, then try to argue against it, I wish you all the luck in the world.
He’s all up IN the History of Art.
If I could choose one piece of art to have in my prison cell (while I served out multiple life sentences for strangling whoever decided to make sagging cool), what would it be? “Pygmalion and Galatea” by Jean-Léon Gérôme because I’m a sucker like that.
Statements of Fact
If I had to pledge allegiance to the Celtics in exchange for a plane ticket where would I go? Petra, Jordan.
What song would I choose for my Say Anything moment? “Your Love” by The Outfield.
His Tender Side
History and art are my two great passions in life. I can not burp, I just don’t know how so I am a very polite dinner guest. I enjoy things that I am horrible at, like golf or guitar hero. I hate socks and would prefer never to wear them. My emotional stability is pretty dependent on the Lakers. People who say I am well traveled clearly don’t understand just how big this world is. If I make it the pearly gates, I want St. Peter to have a three finger single-malt scotch neat in his hand; that way I’ll know whether or not I want to go to heaven.
This is a cross-post from Lindsay Clark (the other World Traveler Intern) who published this on her blog shortly after talking to Chris for the first time.
Pat's World Traveler Intern Tips
Attention World Travelers,
Congratulations! By reading this, you’re one step closer to landing the most engaging, interactive, internship on this planet. The only papers you’ll be shuffling through will be plane tickets, the only e-mails you’ll be sending will be blogs emphasizing how fun and exciting other countries are, and (with that in mind) you can imagine what an “office party” is like. Toss aside that briefcase for a backpack, picture your cubicle as a hostel, and realize that this internship REDEFINES what it means to be at the “bottom of the totem pole”.
I think by now everyone understands that this internship will restructure the way you think and redefine how you act.
Therefore, the question I’ve received most often via Facebook and e-mail is: “Do you have any tips on how I can be selected as the World Traveler Intern 2009?” So, I’ve decided to compile all my ideas into an easy guide on how to improve your chances tremendously on winning this legendary excursion.
#1: Treat it as a job. It may take an abstract mind to understand how a trip of this magnitude could be a summer job. However, the interns who will be selected will possess high quality writing, filming, and editing capabilities. With that in mind, you should ensure that your application is filled out completely (with proper capitalization and punctuation) and to the absolute best of your ability. With stakes this high, everything should be as complete, detailed, and accurate as possible. (Example: Dooo nawt wryte ur app liikee a 14yrold gurll on AIM. LOLZ <3 <3. Again, this was only for dramatic effect.)
#2: Infuse yourself in your application as much as possible. What does this mean? So, now you’ve made sure you have accurate, clear, well-written text and you’ve gotten rid of any technical glitches that might pop up. The most important part of any job interview is that the employer gets a clear sense of who you are as an individual. With that in mind, spend some time looking at yourself and understanding why you ARE the perfect candidate for the position. Believe me, you fit the description for the position, but the people who CONVEY it the best will be selected. So, take time to make sure that your application really emphasizes what quirks you will bring to your videos and blogs!
#3: Avoid cliches. If you’re application tape sounds like this: “I absolutely love to travel. Traveling is a passion that I have had forever. When I travel I want to cry at how much I love it. It will mean more to me than anything I have ever wanted EVER.” Let’s just say – we already know this! By applying, we know you love to travel and that this will change your life (because if you win, it ACTUALLY will!). Push through the obvious and show us why you are unique. So if STA Travel is the ‘wind beneath your wings’, express it in your own lovely words!
#4: Utilize some marketing and pitch yourself! I’ve entered a lot of video contests, filled out a lot of scholarships, and discovered that there’s really one way to make it to the top. When you apply, think of yourself as a product. In this case, the medium for comparing all of the different products is really the video application (take this part extremely seriously). When you go shopping you only pick things that appeal to you, right? It’s a simple idea, but make your video appealing. Make sure you are presenting yourself in the best light and show off your strengths.
#5: Don’t be boring. It needs to be said. I was asked earlier how strict the 2-3 minute time length is, and I’m going to advise that you stick to it. Unless you have some ground-breaking, revolutionary piece, you should really try your hardest to compel people for the allotted time frame. Travel is exciting, so you should be as well! In your application, show us how you’ll break the mold from everyone else. I decided to get up and dance initially to show how I was different from the crowd. If you notice a formula to how people set up their applications, break it!
I think anyone is capable of getting hired for this internship. Honestly, I cannot reiterate the life experience I’ve gained from working with a company as reputable, professional, and generous as STA Travel. I have full confidence that the next two interns this year will find their journey fulfilling and their experience new and intriguing.
Best of luck to all the applicants, and I look forward to seeing your videos!