Europe & Beyond

Staying healthy and safe during your gap year

No one wants their gap year trip ruined by a horrible illness or a stolen wallet. A lot of the precautions you need to take to avoid putting yourself at risk are just common sense — but it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of your travels and forget some of the basics.

Following the feature that covered ideas for taking a gap year we now offer this essential student guide to staying healthy – both whilst travelling and for those going abroad to study.

Staying Healthy – A Student Guide

Vaccinations and medication

Leave plenty of time before you travel to arrange any vaccinations and medication you will need while you’re away.

Apart from keeping your standard vaccinations up to date, such as polio and tetanus, you may also be required or advised to have additional vaccines, depending on your destination — including Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Yellow Fever, and even Rabies.

Your GP can tell you which you need, and also whether you need to take malaria tablets (and if so, which kind). Don’t take any risks: malaria is a very serious, unpleasant, and sometimes fatal disease. Pack a mosquito net and insect repellent as an added precaution against bites.

Student Travel Essentials and First Aid Kit

It’s worth packing a travel first aid kit so you have the items you need when you need them.

Apart from obvious items such as plasters, insect repellent, sun cream, sterile dressings, tweezers, scissors, and antiseptic wipes, you may also want to pack a few extras for a fully loaded first aid kit. Handy items include:

• water purification tablets
• insect bite cream
• diarrhoea treatment and rehydration salts
• anti-fungal cream
• antihistamine (if you suffer from allergies)
• sterilised needles (particularly if you’re venturing somewhere remote with poor medical standards)
• condoms

Make sure your travel insurance covers you for medical expenses, and if you’re taking a job during your trip make sure your insurance still covers you while you’re working (not all policies do).

If you’re travelling to anywhere remote, some essential everyday items may not be easy to come by, particularly tampons and other sanitary products – so for girls it’s worth packing an adequate supply of your preferred brand.

Sexual health for travelling Students

If there’s a chance you’ll have sex during your time away, pack condoms, and use them – a sexually transmitted infection is not a great souvenir to bring home. Have fun, but be safe and don’t put your health at risk for the sake of a quick fling.

Food and drink

You can save yourself a nasty bout of ‘Delhi belly’ (or worse) by taking a few basic precautions with food and drink.

Firstly, drink plenty of water, particularly if you’re somewhere very hot — but always buy sealed, bottled water unless you are absolutely certain that the tap water is safe to drink.

Secondly, avoid eating salad and unpeeled fruit. Bananas and other fruits with a proper skin that you remove before eating are ideal since they can’t be contaminated (except by germs from your own hands!).

Finally, you should avoid cold or raw foods. The safest option is to choose piping hot food from an establishment with plenty of customers and a fast turnover.

Staying safe

Your gap year may be the first time you’ve travelled abroad independently, and it’s important to be prepared and stay safe.

Know before you go

Read the Foreign Office advice for the countries you’re visiting, and research safety issues and known scams at your destination.

Consider a gap year safety training course

There are even gap year safety training courses available, such as those offered by Objectivetravelsafety.com in London. They are generally a full day, cost around £150, and are designed to teach you safety tactics before you go, covering concerns such as theft prevention, food safety, emergency first aid and dealing with authorities.

Stay connected

Once you’re at your destination, make sure your friends and family know you’ve arrived safely, and stay in regular contact with them throughout your trip to make sure they know you’re safe and well.

Gap Year Ideas

Taking a gap year is a great chance to gain more independence, broaden your horizons, acquire new skills and build your CV. But the massive choice of activities, destinations and gap year organisations can be overwhelming.

Here we give a quick run down on some top ways to spend your gap year, along with tips on how to get the most out of your time.

Volunteer on a charity project

Volunteering can be a rewarding way to spend your gap year as long as you choose a project that you believe is actively benefiting the local environment and its communities.
From conservation to community projects, there is a tremendous variety of projects out there to choose from, in destinations across the world.  Find out from some of the aid agen

cies that are working in areas where climate change and global warming are having terrible effects on communities.
But before you sign up for anything, find out as much as you can about the organisation; the integrity of some agencies has been under question in recent years. Is it charity or profit-making? How much support will you receive from them, both before you leave and while you’re abroad?
Placements can be expensive so you need to make sure you get value for money and that it’s benefiting you as well as the host community.

Get a job during your gap year

If you’d like to work during your gap year, there is a wide range of seasonal a

nd temporary jobs available, from ski resort chalet and bar staff in France, to summer camp counsellors and sports instructors in Europe and the USA.

Many resorts have opportunities for car hire reps who both meet and greet new arrivals.  Car hire work invlolves delivery, cleaning and preparation of hire cars – obviously a clean driving license is essential

Fruit-picking is very seasonal, and wages tend to be low, but it can be sociable. Au pair work is great for those with some childcare experience, while office work is generally better paid but usually more formal.
The Overseas Job Centre provides an extensive directory of employers in every sector for those looking to work abroad.

If the thought of organising your job, flights and accommodation all seems a bit daunting, there are some organisations that can do this for you, such as BUNAC – although obviously they charge a fee for doing this. If you decide to use an organisation like this, read up about them first and don’t hand over any money until you have accepted a job in writing.

Teach abroad

Another option is to Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), which can be a fulfilling way of earning while you’re living abroad.

It’s possible to get a job without any formal qualifications in some countries, but to work at a reputable establishment offering a decent wage you’ll need a recognised qualification. TEFL and CELTA are the most highly respected, with intensive training lasting about four weeks, equipping you with the knowledge and skills required for entry-level teaching. The qualifications are internationally recognised so you can work practically anywhere. Course fees depend on where you train, with accredited centres across the world — but usually cost around £1500.

Enjoy an active gap year

If you’re into sports, there are stacks of opportunities for an active gap year.
A popular choice is to train to become an instructor in a particular sport such as skiing or snowboarding, watersports, or mountain sports. If you want to go on to instruct professionally, make sure the course you choose provides you with an internationally recognised qualification at the end.

Be a Mystery Shopper

Retail market research requires the expeiences of people from all walks of life and students can give invaluable feedback from shopping trips where they can be assesing customer service department stores and banks, shelf displays for leading designer brands and perfume houses or generally providing price comparison advice to retailers

Get work experience

If you’d like to gain valuable work experience in a particular sector, you could apply for a work experience placement. If you secure a placement within a well-respected company it could give you a real advantage when it comes to finding a job after University.

Go backpacking

If you have savings, an exciting gap year option is to embark on a round-the-world trip, or go InterRailing in Europe. Travel agencies such as STA Travel specialise in youth and student travel, and can help you plan your routes and book tickets.