How to prepare to volunteer in south east Asia

3 DAYSSS!! In 3 days time I will be on my way to Thailand to teach English and do a bit of travelling. AAHHHHHH!! This will be my first time travelling and teaching English to non native speaker. I am so excited yet scared for this trip which is normal I guess! I will be going with a company called 'Camp Thailand' Since finding i got a place on there program I have spent majority (if not all) reading blogs and watching youtube videos to get an idea of what to expect. I didn't realise there was so much preparation that needed to be done before departing so I thought I would share them with you incase anyone is planning on doing a similar trip.

-Research
If you are planning on volunteering in South East Asia then I would do a lot of research to find a program that suits you. thinking about your budget, how long you want to go for, do you want to do solo volunteer trips or group trip? Do you want to get paid? Gap360, Vesabroad, AND STA Travel are really good websites which offer a wide range of paid and volunteer programs.

-Fights
Book your tickets! Camp Thailand have been brilliant with getting me in touch with their flight agent from STA travel who has helped me book my ticket for a decent price. She also managed to get me on the same flight as people who are also doing Camp Thailand flying from the same airport as me. what a babe!

-Visa
Get your tourist visa at least two months in advance. You get 30 days free when you arrive into Bangkok but if you are planning on staying there longer I would get the tourist visa which gives you 60 days and its only £25 for single entry.

-GP appointment
Book your appointment with your GP to get your jabs done. I got hepatitis A, Typhoid fever and tetanus and these were free on the NHS. Some area may require you to get malaria tablets if you are working or travelling in a high risk area like Cambodia. You can also get rabies and Japanese encephalitis from a travel nurse but you have to pay for these. Your GP will inform you of what you need to get.

-Travel insurance
Get Travel insurance. I got my with Holiday Safe and it was really cheap price and covered everything.

-TEFL
Some schools that you will be working in will require you to have 120 hours TEFL degree which some organisations will offer the course to you for a cheap price. To get paid work you might need to be 21 or over and hold a degree.

-Cash card
Get a travel cash card. Its an easier way to carry money around so you don't need to bring you bank card and you wont get charged extortion amounts for withdrawing money. I went with my travel cash. If you do decide on taking your bank card make sure you let your bank know that you will be leaving the country.

I would also get a documents folder to put copies of your passport, visa, insurance, flight itinerary and hotel bookings if you decide to travel after.

I hope this has been helpful. Thank you for reading.

Come and join me on Instagram or Twitter to see how I get on in Thailand :)

Penelope x