Mom, I am going to India! What? Are you crazy?

Parents

Parents, we feel your pain. It can be pretty tough to let go of your (not so) little ones, especially when it comes to travelling. A lot of EPIC adventure experience customers are first time travellers, and as responsible travellers ourselves, we know how important it is to stay safe on the road. Rest assured, the priority of the EPIC Experience team is to keep your kids safe and to ensure they have the best time ever!

It's for this reason why we've put this page together for you, so we can answer any impending questions you may have. In the meantime, we reckon it's definitely worth reading more about us.

Security

One thing we do want to make clear is that the personal and financial security of our customers is of the highest priority, and something we take extremely seriously.

Our quality control team complete risk assessments on all our programmes abroad. Of course we cannot eliminate every possible danger or risk on the road, but we aim to reassure participants and their loved ones, that we consider their safety paramount. We have a 24/7 emergency helpline in place just in case any accidents do occur, and if a minor incident takes place then it's logged by our team in-country and assessed by our Customer Operations team in the UK.

Still a little worried? We run a safety awareness workshop, which is great for travellers who want to learn the basics. It's incredibly informative, and will clue your kids up on everything from basic first aid, to cultural and religious differences to how to act in challenging circumstances.

Still not convinced? Grab a cuppa and watch our videos all about student travel and read parents testimonies. We quizzed students, lecturers and employers about all things travel, and ends up 85% of employers would encourage students to go travelling to improve their confidence, independence and decision making skills.

01. Staying in touch with your son or daughter

Living in a world of social media galore, staying in contact with your teenager is easier than ever. The most popular way for our customers to talk to their parents is via email. A good proportion of our projects have access to wifi, or will at least travel into an area where wifi is available. If this is the case, they could go one step further and Skype/Facetime you! (There's nothing like actually 'seeing' each other!) If you've both got access to a smartphone, then apps like WhatsApp are great for keeping in touch (in non-tech talk it's like texting, but over the internet). You can have a load of people in a WhatsApp group, so if siblings end up going away together then you can keep tabs on them in the same WhatsApp conversation. Perfecto! If you want to talk to your teenager over the phone, then you could ask them to buy a local sim in country. This will keep the costs down, meaning you could chat for a couple of minutes every other day without it killing your mobile contract.

02. Is my son or daughter ready for a EPIC adventure?

A decent adventure abroad programme can provide an ideal link between the regimented lifestyle of school, and the unstructured temptations of uni. At EPIC adventure Experience we offer tailor made trips, so we can plan the perfect trip for your teenager. Living away from your parents on a structured, well organised adventure could be just what your teenager needs to get some independence, and learn more about the world. Ultimately it'll be down to you to see whether they're ready, but from our experience we've seen even the shyest customers open up and really learn about themselves when they're on the road!

03. Managing money

In our experience the safest, easiest and most convenient option for travellers is to carry a Visa or Mastercard. Banks do charge for each transaction on credit cards, but using them is definitely by far the simplest way for your son or daughter to access their funds. It's also a good idea for your son or daughter to back up their credit card by taking away with them a good supply of travellers' cheques. These can easily be exchanged at most banks and also at airports, (again there is usually a charge for this). As with credit cards, if they are lost or stolen they are also easily replaced. We have loads of ideas for gap year fundraising. For more information on fundraising read our fundraising blog.

04. EPIC adventure preparation

Gap year preparation puts minds at ease prior to departure and also helps to ensure the trip goes smoothly throughout its duration. Our experts can put together anything from a full year backpacking round the world to just a few weeks away working on a volunteer project worldwide. Your son or daughter will be assigned their own travel advisor who, aside from helping to plan and design the trip, can offer advice on everything from negotiating a good deal on the flights, right down to what they should pack. Our travel advisors are all exceptionally well travelled and experts on countries that we operate in. We are more than happy to take calls from parents should you have any queries relating to your son or daughters trip. All of our customers are set up with a personal on-line account, containing just about every piece of information you or your son or daughter could wish to know before they leave.

#Schooltour #EPICSchooltours #EPICSchooltrips #EPICtrips #EPICtours #India #DalaiLama #Dharmshala #TajMahal #Mehrangarhfort #Jodhpur #Fundraising #Learningoutsidetheclassroom