It seems like every second person is going off on a long trip at the moment, with travel blogs and social media showing the best parts of seeing every corner of the world. If you’re planning to head off on a long-term trip, here are a few tips to help you along the way:

Get out of your shell

When we’re kids, it’s super easy to make friends with new people. We have our own little groups of friends, and we don’t realise just how much we rely on those friendships until we travel long-term by ourselves. This can be one of the most challenging parts of travelling for a long time, particularly if you’re an introvert, but eventually you just have to get out of your shell. Start small and introduce yourself to one person at a time. You’ll soon find that many other people are also travelling solo, and likely to be feeling the exact same way you are.

Take travel insurance

This is the best piece of advice you’ll hear. It’s easy to see travel insurance as a “scam” or one more expense to add onto your trip. But travel insurance is your backup plan- while you’ll hope to never need it, it could literally save your life in an emergency. Any good travel insurance policy will cover you for a range of different things, including lost baggage, theft, accident, sickness, and even emergency evacuation. Before you even think about getting on a plane, compare travel insurance options to see which is best for you.

Splurge occasionally

You’ve travelled to the other side of the world, so are you really going to skip the main attractions because they’re too expensive? Sure, you may be on a budget, but you’ll also need to know when it’s worth splurging for that balloon ride over the pagodas in Myanmar or the bungy jump in New Zealand. Sometimes this means “splurging” on little things- do you really want to deal with public transport or should you compare car rental to see which works out more cost-effective?

Ditch social media

Social media is excellent for keeping in touch with friends and family back home. But there’s always that one person in the hostel who spends all day everyday Skyping and Facebook messaging their mates. There’s not much point being in a brand new place if you’re simply going to do the same things you’d do at home. Limit yourself to a few messages a day and actually get out and see the things you travelled so far to see.