Travelling to a foreign country should be an enjoyable experience but it can be full of problems and difficulties for the unprepared. Countries may have all sorts of different ways of doing things but with just a little internet research, you can make your holiday or trip one that goes smoothly.

For example, it helps to know the language because we cannot expect to get by using just English, no matter how loud we can shout. Remote areas, away from the usual tourist traps, may well be places where no one at all speaks English.

Some countries have their own alphabets and letter-scripts that can easily leave you stranded not knowing whether to turn left or right at the next cross-roads. How would you fare in an emergency? Do you know what number to dial to summon an ambulance or the police?

Here are a few sites that will allow you to gain a basic knowledge of many countries.

@TopList - contains country information for travellers to Australasia, South Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Central America, Caribbean, South America & Oceania.

Consular Affairs - this Canadian web site give travel updates and travel reports for an international range of destinations. This travel resource seems to be kept very much up to date as one might expect, this being a government run site.

Foreign & Commonwealth Office - this is the UK government web site providing over 200 country-by-country reports including warnings of countries where safety is at extreme risk. Several updates per day are posted making this an essential travel resource.

Travel Insurance

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