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Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop

Our 2 Day Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety and Awareness workshop (GYITSA) is designed for anyone planning to travel. The workshop suits all ages and benefits first time travellers as well as for those who are planning to visit a new part of the world they are unfamiliar with.

The workshop takes place over two days and is broadly broken down into two sections.

Day one is dedicated to understanding conflict management and personal safety theory & techniques. We refer to this day as 'personal safety' rather then 'self-defence' as our approach is different to some of our competitors. We specialise in low-impact techniques and examine ways of recognising, preventing and diffusing conflict situations, before they turn violent.

This is achieved by understanding body language, understanding our own instinctive actions and reactions, communication techniques and barriers to communication.

Our personal safety, break-away and disengagement techniques allow candidates to remove themselves in a very non-confrontational and non-aggressive manner from a situation, when it turns aggressive or violent.

We don’t teach 'self-defence' skills that rely on strikes or pain-compliant techniques, as we don’t believe they have as much value; it is widely accepted that any act of physical force you use is likely to result in additional force being used against you. Our focus is always on how not to get into conflict situations in the first place and how to resolve them before they turn violent.

Our personal safety techniques do not rely on strength or force but rather on technique. They allow candidates to make space and distance between themselves and an aggressor, to make good their escape or call for help. The individuals we teach are those that are looking to avoid conflict in the first place and therefore remain safe and enjoy their travels incident free.

Subjects on Day One include:

Introductions
Recognising & Evaluating Risk
Communication Skills

Basic elements of communication • Blocks to communication • Communication styles • Active listening & winning trust • Communication elements • Win – win strategies

Managing Conflict

Dynamic risk assessment • SAFER response techniques • Threat assessment • Triggers and inhibitors • Human responses • Self awareness • Emotional vs. rational responses • Fight or flight • Human display process • Defusing high risk conflict • Behaviour cycle • Space & distance

Empathy
Signalling Non-Aggression
Personal Safety Techniques

Maintaining personal space • Non verbal communication • Stance and balance • Wrist lock releases • Clothing grip releases • Strangle releases • Protection techniques from the floor • Combination Techniques

Day two of the workshop concentrates on the practicalities of safe travel and covers a wide range of subjects, all of which focus on ensuring that your trip goes as smoothly as possible from the moment you step out of your front door.

Subjects such as what to pack, may to some even sound patronising, but this is one of the most common mistakes made by the first time traveller. The cost implications of packing the wrong equipment (too much or too little), can put a substantial dent in your budget, either resulting in you needing to dump gear en-route, send it home or buy more. This adds to the financial strain of your trip and on your back as you lug unnecessary equipment round the world.

There is no substitute for good planning; attending our workshop is just the very first step in that process. Once you have decided roughly where it is you intend to travel our first step is to look at these destinations using our country profiles. We can also offer you guidance on planning itineraries to help choose your destinations.

Examples of our Country Profiles:

There are a number of countries we will not provide profiles for as it is our belief that they are not safe to travel in without specialist advice and guidance for that specific area. For these countries we would advise you to consider carefully your options before travel. We believe that the world is a very large place with many more wonders then most of us will ever have the chance to visit and therefore there is no need to put yourself in unwarranted danger by visiting those that remain excessively dangerous to the independent traveller.

We ask all candidates to fill out a Candidate Pre-Booking Form before they attend our workshop. This form allows us to be better prepared for the workshop and make it more relevant to those attending.

The key to the success of the second day is that our instructors are well travelled and can answer most questions you may have there and then. With so many potential questions from different candidates travelling to different parts of the world, if we are unable to answer any question on the day, we will make every effort to answer your question by e-mail once we have consulted one of our large network of contacts.

The key advantage we have is that we have learned the hard way, having travelled to many parts of the world, we have the enthusiasm to teach others and above all love travel.

Subjects on Day Two include:

Destination Advice

Planning your trip • Itineraries – where, where not, when, with who and how long • Climate • The latest information from your destination.

Transport Options

Tickets • Transport safety • Everything from 747’s to dugout canoe • Environmental impact

Travel Health

Common ailments & tropical diseases • Vaccinations & prophylactics • Protecting yourself from disease • Safe food and drink • Medical help abroad

Travel Equipment

Packing a backpack • What essentials to take with you and what to leave behind • How many luxuries can you fit in?

Accommodation

5 star or under the stars, we tell you how to get the best deals and how to choose the accommodation style that suits you best.

Documentation

Visas •Passports • Insurance • Cash, travellers cheque & credit cards • Protecting your valuables and documents.

Cultural Awareness

How you fit into other cultures, the pitfalls and the highlights • Religion • Avoiding culture shock

Safe Travel

Protecting valuables • Avoiding being a target • Natural & human dangers • Assessing risk •Avoiding scams and con artistes the world over •What to do in the case of theft, violence or other serious incident and dealing with the authorities •Terrorism • Women travellers • Communicating with friends and family

Budgets

Setting a budget and sticking to it • How to make savings • Tipping & haggling

Ethical and Responsible Travel
Returning Home

Reverse culture shock • What do you need to do before you leave to prepare for your return • What benefits are there of your travels when you return home.

Experiences & Highlights

Tips & tricks • We talk about our experiences in the countries you are visiting, the excitement and anticipation of your trip will engulf you as it does us every time we get the chance to go on a new adventure.

For further details of our workshop please also see:

We recommend our two day workshop to everyone, however it can be broken down into two individual one day workshops and we do sometimes allow individuals to attend one day or the other. Please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us for further details.

We also run Personal Safety courses which cover the subjects from day one of our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop.

For details of Workshop / Course Dates and Fees please visit the How to Book section of this website, call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

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