Documentation, Money, Insurance & Budgets
One of the hassles of travel is the ‘administration’ that goes with it, but this must be a fundamental part of the planning process, otherwise your journey can be cut short before it has even begun.
The first step for anyone is to dust off your passport and check if it is still valid and that it will be valid for a year after your return as many countries will demand such condition before allowing you to enter. It is incredible the number of times that people plan a trip and before setting off or on presenting their passport to an embassy to get a visa, discover that their passport has expired or is about to expire.
Applying for visas should be your next step, a UK passport actually exempts you from requiring a visa to many countries, but you need to have a good knowledge of which these are, which allow a visa to be obtained on arrival and most importantly which you must apply for beforehand. This in itself can be a long drawn out process, taking both time to tramp round embassies or if using a visa service provider, for them to apply for all the visas you may require. Leave yourself plenty of time and don’t forget to calculate in the costs involved. If you have the time and patience you can apply yourself directly to the relevant embassies often at considerable expense, if a visa service provider is doing this for you don’t forget they will add their commission on top.
Your next consideration should be insurance; a minefield in itself. Why can one policy be £30 and what looks like a similar policy £300, the simple answer is often you get what you pay for. Be careful which you choose, you need to have a good idea of your destinations and the activities you intend to partake in before you start looking and insurance is certainly one area where you must read the small print. Does your policy cover the tens of thousands of pounds it will cost to repatriate you if needed from the other side of the world? Will it cover you if you break a leg after throwing yourself out of an aeroplane strapped to an experienced skydiver? Will you be able to claim if your cash is stolen? Will it compensate others if your actions cause harm to them? Does it actually cover you in the country you are visiting? Insurance is an area where the cheapest is certainly not always the best and the best can often seriously affect your budget.
Then there is cash, in the UK there is a cash point on every corner, in fact getting money out of your account often seems far too easy and in a store or restaurant the payment options seem limitless. On a trip to Madagascar only a few years ago one of our instructors discovered that the country only had 4 or 5 cash points and the very use of one caused a stir with the locals; not to mention the confusion of an un-uniformed guard with an AK-47 who turned up (as it fortunately turned out) to provide protection.
Where running out of cash at home never seems to prove more then a slight inconvenience running out of cash on your travels can mean that you are well and truly stuck with no way out and no way to buy the bare essentials. Many countries still operate very much on a cash basis, with only large hotels and restaurants accepting cards at a premium. You need to make yourself aware of the best solutions, no one wants to carry large sums of cash and it is not advisable, but sometimes there is little option. Travellers cheques can offer some protection although their popularity is declining in a plastic dominated world. As if that was not enough to think about you also need to consider the most appropriate currency to use and denominations of currency that are acceptable.
There are many other documents you might consider having on you while you travel and some you may consider leaving at home. With all these documents, cash and cards it is important to know how to protect them from theft and increasingly form being copied for identity fraud. What do you do if they are stolen and how do you stop your accounts being emptied by anyone but you. Protecting your valuables and planning ahead a little for the eventuality that they may be lost, adds a layer of protection that provides you with greater peace of mind.
The preparation involved in planning independent travel can seem overwhelming. When you confront all these realities and the thought of your life being in a backpack, vulnerable to theft, loss or destruction it can add stress to your trip that holds back your enjoyment.
Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop (GYITSA) is an excellent way of identifying all these issues and providing you with the information and guidance, to not only make sure your preparations for travel are comprehensive, but also that they are made as easy and straight forward as possible.
It seems sometimes that everything involved in planning your trip adds cost to your plans that you had either not anticipated or taken for granted. What originally seemed like a straight forward budget (plane ticket, travel equipment, accommodation, internal travel, food, drink, entertainment, in-country trips and activities, souvenirs, etc) has now been added to with visa costs, insurance costs, bank charges and there are further hidden costs to follow such as calling home, lost or stolen items and emergencies to mention just a few, the costs certainly start to build.
Can you afford it? Well that is a fundamental question, but often when the simple answer seems to be no, look closer at what you would spend at home in the same period of time and the answer turns to yes. Travel can often be cheaper then staying at home depending on your destination and the length of travel.
Being well prepared and well organised makes a substantial difference to your budget. Attending our workshop can easily save you more then the cost of the workshop itself, simply through the good preparation we give you the tools to make.
We believe in a transparent open approach and in and in providing access to useful information through our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop (GYITSA).
A short introduction toto each of the subjects we cover during our workshop is published to allow anyone planning to travel to gain an insight into the considerations they will need to make, these include:
For more details on our Workshop / Course Dates and Fees please visit the How to Book section of our website, call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
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