Planning a gap year: Travel information

Preparing an itinerary

When preparing to travel, it helps if you put together an itinerary that lists all your plans, including:

• dates for each stage of your journey;
• flight numbers and train times;
• addresses of places where you will be staying, with phone numbers and dates;
• details of people to contact in each place;
• UK embassy contact details for each country you expect to visit;
• ideas about what to do in each place.

Have a look at the Prospects gap year planner to help you to sort out your itinery and have a look at the Sample gap year planner for some ideas to help you with your planning. Other checklists can be found on the Gapadvice website.

Leave a copy of your itinerary with family and friends. It will also be useful when you register with embassies and high commissions abroad so that they can provide support if things go wrong.

Along with your itinerary, consider the following:

Safety

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), provides an excellent pocket-sized gap year travel safety booklet available free from Go Gap Year, where you can also find up-to-date information and security advice about the country you are visiting, and sign up for email alerts to changes in FCO travel guidelines.

Health

Health related preparations before you travel:

• See your doctor at least six weeks before you travel and get the vaccinations you need.
• If you are on medication, be sure you take a supply with you, in factory-sealed packages. Check that it is legal to take your medication into your destination country and get a covering doctor’s letter if necessary.
• See your dentist for a check-up.
• If you wear glasses, take a spare pair and your prescription.
• For travel within the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, get a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to receive healthcare. The EEA includes all the countries of the European Union (EU), plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Read advice for travellers at the Department of Health (DH) site.
• For countries outside the EEA, check that your travel insurance includes health cover.

Make sure you have the following items organised well in advance:

• valid passport for travel outside the UK (order at the Identity and Passport Service) - most countries require that you have a passport valid for six months after you enter the country.
• visas for the countries you plan to visit - check visa requirements with your travel agent or contact the country’s consulate or embassy. A list of foreign embassies in the UK is available from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
• travel insurance - some companies arrange special gap year cover. Research what various policies cover for the destinations you are travelling to and the activities you are planning. Take the necessary insurance documents with you, including emergency phone numbers.

Will you need a foreign language?

• Being able to communicate will always make things easier, so you may choose to go somewhere where you already know something of the language. In fact, improving your language knowledge may be one of your reasons for travelling abroad.
• If you don’t know the language, consider learning the rudiments by going to an evening class or doing a teach yourself course.
• Take a good phrase book.

Keeping in touch

You can record your experiences and update friends and family using websites such as Keeping You Posted, where you can create an interactive online journal.

For details of internet cafes around the world, go to CyberCafes.

What to take

Generally speaking, the advice is not to take too much as you will have to carry everything you pack. Some basic tips are:

• Use a large, good quality rucksack for your bulky items.
• Take a smaller rucksack as hand luggage to hold all your travel documents and valuables.
• Leave expensive personal items such as jewellery at home.