Join Odyssey Overland for one of the most amazing trips you are ever likely to experience, if you are thinking of taking a break or a gap year and want the experience of a lifetime, this is it.
Please take the following into consideration before joining our expedition. If you have any questions please email us at info@odysseyoverland.co.uk and we will be happy to give you any help we can.
This is the most important item you will carry on your expedition. Please ensure it is valid for at least one year from our departure date and that it has at least 20 clear pages. Without this number of clear pages you will not be able to complete the expedition without having to get another passport en route. This is not always easy, wastes valuable time and is expensive.
Your passport will be required 12 weeks before the date of departure when we start arranging all the letters of invitation. These letters are required for some of the countries we plan to visit before we can apply for visas. Please ensure if you need to apply for another passport you do so in time and have it available 12 weeks before departure. Also, if you have travel commitments for any time during the 12 weeks before departure it may be worth considering obtaining a second passport.
While on the road we advise you to either keep the passport locked in the truck safe or in the hotel safe and not to keep it on your person. We recommend however that you carry a copy of your passport (a laminated copy works really well) on your person. Please also bring along 5 further photocopies of your passport, and leave one copy with a relative or friend.
A fair number of the countries we will visit on our travels will require visas, some are best obtained before we leave and others we will pickup en-route. A full list with all the details will be provided 12 weeks prior to departure which gives you plenty of time to get everything organised, and we will be helping you with some of the more difficult ones (including obtaining letters of invitation which are required by some countries before they will issue a visa). In addition, for some countries we will try to get group visas as this makes it cheaper and easier for everybody. As a rough figure, budget approximately £550 for all the visas (including those obtained in the UK and those we get on the road). Getting all the visas is ultimately your responsibility and prices vary depending on nationality and are subject to change. We recommend Travcour as an agent to arrange visas (see Useful Links).
We need you to bring along 15 passport photos for visas and other permits required along the way. Please make sure these are of passport quality, of true likeness and not of you on the way to a fancy dress party.
Travel Insurance is a vital part of your pre-trip preparation and pre-requisite for you to join us. We recommend you choose your policy carefully and make sure it fits all your requirements. We will require a copy of this insurance before you can join the trip. Please take into consideration that this is an adventure tour and that we will be visiting off the beaten track places, some which lack western infrastructure. We will also be going to altitudes as high as 5,300m, so please ensure the insurance covers you for this style of activity and condition.
We require you to have cover of at least the equivalent of £500,000 for medical and repatriation costs and for your insurance to be valid for the entire duration of the expedition and cover you for all the countries we visit. Many policies (particularly those available on the internet) are great for a trip to the beach in Spain, but are totally unsuitable for a trip like this! Please pay attention to the small print. Our recommendation is www.campbellirvine.com – we use them for all our insurance and they are the professionals in the Overland travel industry and understand the nature of our journey.
Recommended vaccinations and other health protection measures (including malaria prophylactics) vary according to country and recent bulletins issued by health authorities. Please consult your doctor or a specialised immunisation clinic (such as Nomad Travel – www.nomadtravel.co.uk) for vaccination and other medical requirements for your trip. Alternatively you may wish to get a MASTA Health Briefing online (www.masta-travel-health.com) which will enable you to get a personalised travel briefing for all of the countries we are visiting (costs about £4) – remember if you do get one of these that they are very comprehensive and might look a bit daunting – please don’t be put off!
Some vaccinations can involve multiple injections with a break between each, so please look into them well before the date of departure.
It is also worth consulting you doctor about the effects and counter effects of malaria prophylactics, contraceptive pills, other medication and the possible effects of altitude. Altitude is known to affect some of these treatments and prophylactics; we will be spending extended time over 3,000m. Please also discuss altitude with your doctor if you have any heart, lung or other medical complications and make us aware of any medical conditions you may have! Diamox, a drug which helps you cope with altitude, is also worth discussing with your doctor or health clinic.
This is a major consideration and it is difficult to recommend what is best. There is no doubt that cash is king for ease of use, but you will have the usual security problem. Traveller’s cheques, while the safest option, are often difficult to cash (and in some of the countries we visit, impossible) and we do not recommend them. In addition heavy commissions and other charges may be levied.
Debit and credit cards will work in most major centres, but often one type will work and another will not. We would suggest that if you are considering bringing funds in this form you bring both a Visa and a MasterCard, as these are the two, which are most commonly accepted. Remember to inform your bank of your intended travel plan, as they tend to stop cards when used in unusual countries. The most sensible suggestion would be a mix, but make sure that at least a third is a mix of US$ and Euro cash. With cash please sensure that you get nice new notes as many countries will not accept the older or damaged notes. Bigger notes also get beter exchange rates, so bring the bulk in 50’s and 100’s. All can be locked up in the onboard safe. Also see the debit/credit card links under Useful Links.
This is entirely up to you, we recommend you budget
approx £12
per day (not including visas, optional activities, souvenirs) and this should
be enough to cover general daily costs, possibly you could get by on less
if you are prepared to eat modestly and not spend money on expensive
goodies. Some days you may spend a bit more and other days a lot less, but
it all evens out over the duration of the trip.
This amount does not include optional excursions, adventure activities or
souvenirs. Everybody has different interests and budgets, some may want to
enter every historical site along the way, buy expensive souvenirs or possibly
do a diving course. Our recommendation is to budget £12/day and then
come up with maximum amount you are prepared to spend on optional activities
and stick to the budget.
As we will be camping about 50% of the time it is well
worth investing a bit of time and money in a good sleeping bag and roll
matt.
Your sleeping bag will need to be at least a 4
season bag as we
will encounter some cold conditions, possibly down to zero when in Tibet
and when running Europe, though this is not the norm. The option of combining
a sleeping bag and a liner is well worth considering as it keeps you warmer
and the liner is great for those hot nights when the sleeping bag may be
too hot. There is always the option of buying a blanket or two as we
go along but it is best to come prepared. Sleeping bags should come in
an easy-to-stuff bag, some tend to pack down really nice and small but require
Houdini to get them in the bag every morning. Consider buying a slightly
bigger bag to make packing away easier.
Roll mats – We suggest the thicker Thermarest. A good night's sleep
allows you to appreciate the coming day's activity so it is well worth spending
a little more to ensure your comfort. Make sure it comes with a
good strap to keep it rolled up and a patching kit, as they are known
to get the odd puncture. A good pillow is also essential; the blow-up
ones may seem to be the answer but the real thing is far better.
We recommend that you use a backpack or duffle bag that you can carry on your back /shoulder and strongly suggest not bringing a conventional suitcase. Due to space limitations everybody is only allowed one large bag, a daypack, sleeping bag and a roll mat. You will easily be able to carry everything you need into this amount of luggage. Remember at times you will need to carry your bags to hotels and through some borders.
This is personal choice; things to consider are comfort, ease of washing (dry quickly) and packability. Ladies also need to take into consideration that we will be visiting a large number of Muslim countries and out of respect and to be accepted it is advisable to cover up your arms and legs. We suggest your old well-worn favourites, which you don’t mind getting a bit dirty, and possibly swapping or giving away as we go along. As we go, you will be able to buy most things anyway. Possibly not quite the style that you would buy back home, but it does help you to blend in.
Suggested items:
Laundry can be done easily and cheaply as we go, bring a small washing line along if you plan to do some of your own. Washing powder is cheap and freely available.
You will be able to get most toiletries along the way so bring just enough to get you started. We ask everybody to bring their own personal first aid kit. The truck will have a comprehensive first aid medical kit on board but for day-to-day stuff we ask that you use your own.
Suggested items:
Here again it is up to you to decide what best suits you but don’t blow the bank trying to get all the latest gadgets. If you bring the basic you can buy what you need as you go.
Suggested items:
This list could carry on forever, remember that most stuff we can get as we go, so rather pack as lightly as possible or you will find you are carrying around items rarely of any use.
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