Travel abroad

Travelling around the world is one of the most popular options for career breakers. Lots of people combine it with a bit of voluntary work, or they might learn new things in the countries they're in.

What will you get out of it?
Guidebooks and websites
Other information sources

What will you get out of it?

Travelling is not just an extended holiday – at least, not if you do it properly. Extended foreign travel will:

Help you learn to organise
Build your confidence
Teach you to be less selfish
Teach you to be more patient
Make you learn interesting things

They also say they have an amazing time, meet amazing people and come back with fabulous stories and fantastic memories.

Guidebooks and websites

The Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide are the market leaders in travel guides, and for a good reason. No, they're not perfect, but they are easy to use and are the best source of information in book form. Get the one with the most recent publishing date, and bear in mind that many bits will have been written a while ago.

We're partners in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's Know Before You Go campaign. There's a lot of useful information on their site, but even more useful are the free email updates. They'll alert you to everything from sudden visa restrictions to political unrest.

Other information sources

As soon as you announce you're going somewhere, you'll be inundated with advice. Some of it is really useful, especially if it's from people who've been to the same places, or who've done similar things. You will get a lot of unsolicited advice, from people who insist you "can't miss" something or "must go" somewhere. If you feel overwhelmed, remember that the only pieces of advice you to pay attention to are the ones that end in: