Travel Health Centre

Warning: travelling without reading this section can seriously damage your health!

This section of gapyear.com was written by travel health expert Doctor Seb Kalwij and covers the basic issues that you should know about before you travel. Start by reading the Guide to Travel Health, then explore the other headings below for more info.

However, this section is no substitute for a vist to your own doc. Your local GP should run a travel clinic. We suggest that you contact him / her to find out when it is.

We would advise that a good eight months before your trip you:

- Visit your GP for a general health check-up in preparation for going overseas, especially if you are considering a long trip (now is the time to find anything dodgy that you need to know about)
- While you're there make sure you ask any questions relating to your trip, e.g what contraception you should use while travelling, where your appendix is located and how to buy any medications that you are on overseas (they may have different brand names) etc.
- Visit your travel clinic well in advance to get the right immunisations. Some GPs charge for these, others don't.

Don’t have a travel clinic nearby or would like to go private? We would recommend MASTA Private Travel Clinics who are likely to have a travel clinic near you.

Advice   Guide to travel health   Getting your jabs   Basic travel health   Before you go   Books & guides   Sex on the beach   Female health   Travel health insurance   Immunisations & Diseases

Meet Dr Seb! Our resident Doc who gives us the right advice >> Personal injury overseas Suffered injury or illness abroad through no fault of your own? >>