It’s the kind of lush paradise shampoo adverts are filmed in. As you step off the plane an oasis of edenic Hawaiian forest stretches before your sandaled feet, green and rippling in the light breeze.
…Only Herbal Essences usually omits the shrieks of disgruntled locals shattering the susurrus of palm tree leaves. Since you didn’t research local customs, how were you to know that by refusing the traditional Lei flower necklace (pink petals don’t exactly project intrepid-explorer vibes) you were delivering a grave insult?
Like it or not, the leggy brunette model bathing in the waterfall is not repeatedly exalting “YES!” because of the scent of a thousand pomegranates wafting forth from her conditioned roots. She purrs in delight because she’s safely insured, vaccinated and knowledgeable about why the offended local is hurling colourful epithets at your increasingly crimson face.
It all comes down to this: Know Before You Go . It may seem basic, but in the run up to the trip of a lifetime researching simple facts about customs, travel documents and emergency funds can slip any traveller’s mind. Launched in 2001, the Know Before You Go campaign is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Huckleberry to your Finn, a vital tool for any traveller to stay safe, healthy, and informed abroad.
Imagine how much easier Indiana Jones would have had it if he’d had Twitter. By following @fcotravel, he would have seen tweets about dangerous areas during his adventures, thus avoiding the clutches of Lao She. Clued-up Indy would then never have boarded the crime Lord’s plane that crashed into the Himalayas, meaning he would never be forced into a cage suspended above a lava pit in a forgotten temple with the only route of escape involving hurtling down a mine shaft in a rickety cart… completely uninsured.
Ok, so wherever you travel the likelihood of you ending up a toasty human sacrifice is pretty slim, but the more tangible threats of theft, tropical disease or plummeting off a hotel balcony are very real indeed. If you ‘Know Before You Go’, the FCO can support you as you explore, protecting your interests and lending a hand if you’re injured, arrested, victimised, assaulted or abducted abroad…. In short Indiana’s script writers could have made his life a whole lot easier.
Follow the FCO travel Facebook (facebook.com/fcotravel) and Twitter (twitter.com/fcotravel) pages to stay in the loop, and keep your eyes peeled around campus to hear exactly what the FCO can do for you.
For more info about how to prepare for trips abroad, grab a copy of the FCO’s Plan.Pack.Explore travel guide, which is available as a free smartphone app, or the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk/publications.
More detailed country-specific advice is available on the FCO website at fco.gov.uk/travel.
Fantastically written Alysia! Very informative.