Student travel advice from essentialtravel.co.uk

Whether you are travelling alone or with others, the tips below you can make your travel experience as safe and enjoyable as possible:

• Before travelling research the political climate, environmental dangers and potential health risks of your destination. Government foreign offices have plenty of helpful information and are a useful place to start. Ask others who you know have travelled to the same destination for useful advice. Take the necessary precautions before you travel such as having immunisations.

• Make sure that you obtain correct visas before travel. Failing to do so could ruin your trip or worse (deportation, fines and even imprisonment are possible).

• Get the low down from fellow travellers that you meet about their experiences, any important tips/advice about safety and any potential dangers they have run into.

• Find out what the local laws are and obey them.

• Get adequate travel insurance before you travel that will cover any potential risks that you identify.

• Make plans in advance about how you will keep in touch with friends and family during your trip and make sure that they have clear expectations about roughly how often you plan to make contact.

• Keep your passport, money and important possessions safe at all times, bear in mind that tourist hotspots are also hotspots for thieves and pickpockets. Just in case the worst happens, keep copies of important documents such as passports, visas, travellers cheques and insurance polices. Leave one copy at home with friends/family as an added precaution.

• Always have safe sex (i.e., using condoms).

• Know the risks of using drugs and alcohol and be aware that in some countries drugs use can carry heavy penalties, even the death penalty.

• Be careful what you carry through customs. Some goods such as alcohol and tourist “souvenirs” are prohibited across certain borders. Always pack your own luggage, never leave it unattended and never carry a package for somebody else.