Students Guide to Overseas Travel

June 19th, 2010

Everyone needs to watch their finances when going abroad, but students travelling overseas need to be especially careful.

This is not because they are all bound to live up to their reputation and be reckless, but simply because they are not as used to handling the various forms of finance they must be familiar with to survive on a trip to a foreign country.

The best course of action is to sit down and get all the boring stuff out of the way before you depart so that you can enjoy your time abroad with minimal concern for your financial situation.

Clearly, it is always a good idea for students travelling overseas to have saved enough money to do so without recourse to borrowing or building up debt. Debt can only be forgotten for so long, and once the vacation is over it will come back to haunt you.

To make your trip abroad a relatively hassle-free affair, at least financially, here are a few tips to follow before leaving your home soil:

Tips for students travelling overseas

Deposit any spare cash you know you won’t require into a high interest savings account so it is making money for you when you are away. This is always a good idea whatever your plans are, whether staying home or travelling. Students travelling overseas who think they may require this money should not lock it away in a fixed term account.
Link this savings account to your everyday banking account so you can easily transfer funds if you find you are running short of cash abroad. All you will need is access to an Internet cafe to make the transfer when travelling, and then your regular bank card to access the funds via any ATM.
Set up a trusted family member with everything they need to operate your finances on your behalf should you be unable to. Students travelling overseas can sometimes end up in pretty remote areas and need to know that their finances can be accessed and moved around if local communications are poor.
Clear your debts before setting off. The last thing students travelling overseas need is to know that they will be returning to unpaid bills that have been accruing interest.
If you have bills you cannot clear straight away, or ongoing bills that must carry on, make sure you set up automatic payments before leaving so that you will not end in up default with dishonour fees to pay as well.
Carry a credit card if you are able to get hold of one before you go. Although your credit limit may be low, it can act as a good source of funding for students travelling overseas provided they keep paying the bill in full therefore renewing their available funds.