Travelling the world and visiting unfamiliar countries for the first time can be a wonderfully exciting experience. On the other hand though, if something goes wrong while away, chances are you will wish you never left home.

Although you won't have ultimate control over how safe your journey abroad is, there are a great deal of measures you can take to prevent any problems arising or minimising their effects.

First and foremost - educate yourself on your chosen destination(s). This is best achieved by seeking advice from the FCO (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), who have up-to-date travel information on over 200 countries.

Common things to look out for include any notices on political unrest, war, kidnaps etc. Also, familiarising oneself with local etiquette and customs is vital, as failure to follow certain rituals can cause considerable offence in some regions.

While researching you should find out if you will require any vaccinations before travelling, these should be sought at least 6 weeks before setting off.

Secondly, once you know exactly where you will be travelling and what kind of things you will doing, any extreme sports for instance, you should obtain adequate travel insurance.

Many travellers see such insurance as an unnecessary expense and thus travel unprotected which, considering the often costly foreign medical expenses, is highly advised against. The costs of covering any accidents abroad can easily run into the hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions; all of which will be expected to be repaid once home. Travel insurance to cover such situations is therefore an invaluable tool.

The level of cover you require will vary considerably, depending, amongst other things, on your medical condition, what you intend to do, where you will be travelling and for how long.

It's important to note that insurance claims may not be processed if you are harmed because of an already known cause. For instance, if you omit details of an asthma condition on your insurance application and then suffer an asthma attack you will not be covered for any damages incurred.