Now get packing

1. Insurance
Admittedly, insurance isn't glamorous. It doesn't quite fit with the idea of you, young and free, racing across the prairie with the wind in your hair. But sometimes, my kittens, you must wear your sensible hat. If you needed hospital treatment for a gammy leg, or if your luggage got lost en route to Tasmania, you'd be kicking yourself for not forking out a few quid for insurance, wouldn't you now?

2. Visas
Visas are curious beasties. Do you get them before you go? When you get there? Do you need them at all? A quick call to the relevant embassy will usually clarify the matter. If you are intending to work abroad, the procedure may be more complicated. If you have enrolled on a scheme such as Bunac, your visa will be provided by the organisation, but independent travellers may need to find a job before they leave the UK to be guaranteed a working visa. Again, it's best to speak to the appropriate embassy, or you could visit www.fco.gov.uk

3. CV
If you are intending to find work abroad, it's a wise idea to take a few copies of your CV with you. This will save you from having to peg it round a small, hot town in rural Australia in search of a computer and a photocopier. A useful site for those wanting to work overseas is www.vacationwork.co.uk.

If you are thinking of working on your year off, forking out for a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course may be a good investment. It's an internationally recognised qualification, allowing you to teach English abroad. Visit www.tefl.co.uk for further information.

4. Jabs
You are young and invincible, you believe that hepatitis A would shrivel at the merest sight of you. But, monsieur, you are wrong. As unlikely as it is that you will contract dengue fever, or rabies, or some godawful tropical disease that will make your head swell to the size of an aerodrome, it is preferable to be safe than sorry. Consult www. fco.gov.uk to see which jabs you'll need, and make an early appointment to see your GP.

5. Money
Work out how much money you have, how much you might earn, and how much you can afford to spend each day. Sums aren't exactly riveting, but sadly they are important.

Get yourself a credit card before you go. Many hotels and restaurants will accept credit card payment, and this will ensure that you don't have to carry around large quantities of cash. More than anything, credit cards are invaluable in emergency situations - if you have to get a plane home at short notice, for example.

Most of all, don't spend 12 months being stingy. Surviving on pitta bread and cheese triangles isn't a fun way to pass your gap year. Similarly, if you are given an amazing opportunity such as going scuba diving, or taking part in an archaeological dig; don't pass it up just because it's beyond your budget. Sometimes it's worth splashing out.

6. Rucksack
Think of your rucksack as your mobile home. It is your caravan, and you are the Ford Fiesta. Only a fool would take a scraggy, tacked-together caravan on a 12-month caravanning expedition, and likewise it is best to invest in a nice new rucksack that you trust before you embark on your year in Nepal.

Nip along to your local YHA or camping shop and try them on for size. Make sure it is big enough to accommodate all of your worldly goods, with room left over for that ethnic wall-hanging you will inexplicably purchase shortly after you arrive.

7. Knife, fork, spoon
Opening a can of baked beans with your Swiss army knife will bring you untold glee. Consuming said beans with the cutlery you cunningly packed in your rucksack will render you positively ecstatic. Otherwise, matey, you'll be using your bare hands.

8. Imodium
Few things are more unpleasant than contracting Delhi belly in a hot country, with inadequate toilet facilities. Delhi, for example. Do be sensible and avoid soft fruit, salads and tap water, and don't get caught out cleaning your teeth with unbottled water, or having ice in your drink. Even the most cautious travellers are likely to succumb to some kind of tummy bug or other, so it's wise to stash some kind of anti-diarrhoea tablets. For similar reasons, feel free to pack some flat-pack toilet paper.

9. Condoms
Every year, along with their wall-hangings, their moccasins and their duty-free cigarettes, thousands of travellers bring back nasty diseases such as genital warts, gonorrhoea and chlamydia. Unprotected sex is plain daft. Unprotected sex with someone you met two hours ago in a backpackers' hostel in Thailand is unbelievably stupid.

10. Sock in mouth
Nothing, nothing, is more annoying than the recently-returned gap year student who will not stop harping on about his time spent trekking across Chile and chilling with the natives. He is easily recognisable at university as the tosser with the faux-ethnic drawstring trousers and the collection of hair braids and/or woven bracelets. He has a penchant for joss sticks. At all costs, do not become this man.