Vaccinations
Depending on where you are going, make sure your vaccinations are up to date. You will need tetanus, Diptheria, Pertussus and Typhoid. You may also need malaria depending on where you are going, but unlikely unless you are really going to a rural area.
Please check with your doctor a to see what the recommended vaccines are.
Health Insurance
Generally your school will cover your health insurance needs but that is something you have to check out before you leave your home country. If you are not satisfied with their coverage, buy additional coverage before you leave. Health care is remarkably cheap in Asia, but if you get into some kind of catastrophic situation like a car accident, you may be thankful to have additional coverage from your home country.
I did fall off a motorcycle in Vietnam and went to the doctor in a public hospital. The cost was about $3.00 and she prescribed some medicine ( antibiotic). I figured this was really where they were going to get me, until I found out it was about fifty cents for the medicine!
Depending on where you are going, make sure your vaccinations are up to date. You will need tetanus, Diptheria, Pertussus and Typhoid. You may also need malaria depending on where you are going, but unlikely unless you are really going to a rural area.
Please check with your doctor a to see what the recommended vaccines are.
Health Insurance
Generally your school will cover your health insurance needs but that is something you have to check out before you leave your home country. If you are not satisfied with their coverage, buy additional coverage before you leave. Health care is remarkably cheap in Asia, but if you get into some kind of catastrophic situation like a car accident, you may be thankful to have additional coverage from your home country.
I did fall off a motorcycle in Vietnam and went to the doctor in a public hospital. The cost was about $3.00 and she prescribed some medicine ( antibiotic). I figured this was really where they were going to get me, until I found out it was about fifty cents for the medicine!
Passports
Make sure you have at least one year left on your passport. If you don't it will be a huge problem in the country you are going to if you have a year contract. Another very important tip which I did realize until someone told me is that there are two sizes of passports. One with lots of pages and one with less pages. Since you will probably be travelling a lot, pay a few extra dollars and get the larger passport. You will not regret it since you will not be going back in a year to buy a whole new passport. You should have lots of stamps and visas all over it.
As a rule of thumb, the smaller the country, the more expensive their visa and the bigger their stamp, so beware! Your passport tends to fill up quickly.
If you get a chance, by the way, buy a multi entrance visa so you do not have to bother with a lot of expense and time every time you return to your country.
In the next post, I will discuss setting up your own blog, mailing lists of friends versus relatives and setting up skype account with telephone!
Make sure you have at least one year left on your passport. If you don't it will be a huge problem in the country you are going to if you have a year contract. Another very important tip which I did realize until someone told me is that there are two sizes of passports. One with lots of pages and one with less pages. Since you will probably be travelling a lot, pay a few extra dollars and get the larger passport. You will not regret it since you will not be going back in a year to buy a whole new passport. You should have lots of stamps and visas all over it.
As a rule of thumb, the smaller the country, the more expensive their visa and the bigger their stamp, so beware! Your passport tends to fill up quickly.
If you get a chance, by the way, buy a multi entrance visa so you do not have to bother with a lot of expense and time every time you return to your country.
In the next post, I will discuss setting up your own blog, mailing lists of friends versus relatives and setting up skype account with telephone!
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