Before she left for the achingly glamorous life of a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia, Jill Nawrocki used to write for us. We miss her volunteer travel ideas and her flight reviews, but we're getting over it by reading about her adventures in Southern Africa.

At least for the time being, things aren't too busy:

I've perfected my raisin bread, white bread and pizza dough over the last two weeks and have an entire cookbook to tackle over the coming two years. It's lonely to cook for one, but my dad always told me in a new place, food helps make friends...

I've already polished off a library's worth of literature and can now safely say there is no such thing as a bad book when it's the only book left to read.

As time goes by, and her two-year gig with the Peace Corps rolls on, we'll be interested to see what adventures she gets up to. The latest is what looks like a great weekend trip to the Waterberg Plateau.

Think your travel blog has what it takes to make you a travel blog star? Send us the address and throw "Travel Blog Star" in the subject line.

Related Stories:
· Sand in My Shoes [Official Site]
· Weekend in Waterberg [SIMS]
· Travel Blog Stars coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-02-06T13:45:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/8/8/225616/3818

In The Global Nomads, a young American mother chronicles life as she, her husband, and three sons travel around the Middle East from their home base in Qatar. Known only as "Kel," she is to be commended for bucking the "settle down" myth that comes with marriage and kids.

Kel continues to pursue her wanderlust with man and boys in tow. Sure, she indulges a bit in exclamation marks!!! and emoticons ;-), but she's clearly excited to be living her happily-ever-after all over the world. We can hardly fault her for that.

Think your travel blog has what it takes to make you a travel blog star? Send us the address, throw "Travel Blog Star" in the subject line, and we will take a look. If your blog is deemed star worthy, linkage will no doubt be the result.

Related Stories:
· Travel Blog Stars [Jaunted]]]> ced138 2007-08-15T10:13:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/8/2/205344/3833

Skyler ______ (no last name provided) is a breath of fresh air. While it seems every travel blogger out there -- including us -- is sarcastic and cynical at times, our boy at Chasing Ideals is unabashedly optimistic. In part, it's because he and Jesus seem to be best buds. But he also takes a reflective, hopeful view about the places he visits.

Make no mistake, Skyler's not a pro at writing. He reminds us a bit of our high school days, when the big thoughts we carried around took pages and pages of essay paper to articulate. We find this earnestness endearing, and if you can get through the adjectives, you will find yourself rooting for Skyler as he travels around discovering a lot about himself and the world God created.

Think your travel blog has what it takes to make you a travel blog star? Send us the address, throw "Travel Blog Star" in the subject line, and we will take a look. If your blog is deemed star worthy, linkage will no doubt be the result.

Related Stories:
·Religious Travel [Jaunted]
·Travel Blog Stars [Jaunted]

[Photo: Perfekt] ]]> ced138 2007-08-03T10:57:52-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/25/171753/588

Joshua Samuel Brown's travel blog, Snarky Tofu, chronicles the trials of a Lonely Planet guidebook writer. Brown offers painstaking detail about the political climate of the countries in which he's immersed.

Currently, Brown lives in Taiwan. He addresses the hiccups and hurdles -- like the arduous renaming of national monuments -- as the country transitions from totalitarian rule under The Kuomintang of China to a democratic state.

While he offers relevant cultural information, he doesn't take himself too seriously (see photo above). Brown also recounts the standard "oops" fare of an American traveler whose shaky knowledge of the native language leads to some pretty embarassing situations.

Think your travel blog has what it takes to make you a travel blog star? Send us the address, throw "Travel Blog Star" in the subject line, and we will take a look. If your blog is deemed star worthy, linkage will no doubt be the result.

Related Stories:
· Travel Blog Stars [Jaunted]
· Snarky Tofu [Official Site]

[Photo: Snarky Tofu] ]]> ced138 2007-07-26T11:27:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/6/12/02526/3911

Where the Hell is Matt? incorporates our three favorite things: travel, a good sense of humor, and a lack of shame.

The video, and follow-up blog, chronicle the travels of Matt, a 30-year-old self-described slacker from Connecticut, who dances a crazy jig in front of the world's wonders. Sure, it's a gimmick, but since it's a funny one, we'll let it slide. Matt even somehow sweet-talked Stride Gum into sponsoring him. That means he now gets paid to dance in exotic locations and upload his exploits to YouTube -- nice.

Think your travel blog has what it takes to make you a travel blog star? Send us the address, throw "Travel Blog Star" in the subject line, and we will take a look. If your blog is deemed star worthy, linkage will no doubt be the result.

Related Stories:
· Travel Blog Stars [Jaunted] ]]> ced138 2007-06-26T14:53:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/6/7/234613/5886

We admire Lisa Lubin. Like Lisa, we studied journalism, and followed the expected trajectory: Moving to the proverbial big city, and landing a decent job in our chosen field. But we while we only travel occasionally, Lisa's is probably lounging in a Turkish bath as we type. Last August, she traded in her enviable life, found a baby-sitter for her cat, and set off to travel the world for a year. She chronicles her experiences on her blog, LL World Tour.

Lisa's background in TV production is evident in her site. We enjoy following her travels through the many photos, sound bites, video clips, and personal narrative she posts. Plus, she provides lots of little quick history lessons about the places she visits that make us think she might make an excellent 8th grade social studies teacher when she returns.

Is there a movement we didn't hear about? First, we discovered the Lost Girls, a trio of girlfriends touring the globe. Now Lisa took off solo for a round-the-world jaunt. Now all we need to do is save, oh, 20 grand or so, and join the pack.

Related Stories:
· Travel Blog Stars [Jaunted] ]]> ced138 2007-06-12T11:03:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/6/4/23459/54683

Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations is (like its title) straightforward. Tim's comedic voice, however, saves the blog from the saccharine repulsiveness that make service stories in, say, women's magazines, so unbearable. Less "how to get more for less" and more "how to have an awesome time traveling even if you're not loaded," Leffel gives helpful tips and tricks while still tackling the broader social issues of the places he visits.

According to his bio, Leffel also wrote The World's Cheapest Destinations, as well as Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune: The Contrarian Traveler's Guide to Getting More for Less. He is also editor of Perceptive Travel.

On second thought, Leffels' blog is so freaking comprehensive that he might put us out of a job. Nevermind. Don't click on this link.

(Publisher's Note: I don't think Claire knows this, but Tim is a long time contributing editor over at HotelChatter, Jaunted's big sister site. Then again, maybe Claire is fully aware, and this is all just subconscious travel media synergy at work. Who knows. Either way, he absolutely deservers being dubbed a travel blog star.)

Think your travel blog has what it takes to make you a travel blog star? Send us the address, throw "Travel Blog Star" in the subject line, and we will take a look. If your blog is deemed star worthy, linkage will no doubt be the result.

Related Stories:
· Travel Blog Stars [Jaunted] ]]> ced138 2007-06-05T10:51:34-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/