Thinking about the risks when studying abroad

When you decide to study abroad, learning new skills and earning some memorable moments are all a part of the education you receive. It’s important, though, to also think about risk management.

Planning for emergencies is an important part of any kind of travel — and having a method to address this ahead of time can save time and reduce the impact of an emergency.

We have some simple ideas on what you need to think about before you travel abroad. Following these ideas can help tremendously and will lead to a greater sense of security as your journey unfolds.

Motivations for studying abroad tie into risks 



Before getting into some of the details of travel risk, let’s talk about the motivation to visit another country in the first place. The international student recruitment firm Educations recently surveyed people who were studying abroad to find out their motivations, among other aspects of their trip.

The top five reasons why they wanted to study abroad were as follows:

• Achieving my career goals (49%)
• Developing myself personally (47%)
• Experiencing a new culture of lifestyle (45%)
• Access to higher quality teaching (33%)
• Making new friends/networking professionally (21%)

With these as the top priorities, when something at-risk becomes paramount, it may be harder to fully achieve those aims. With the right type of planning, though, an emergency can be solved efficiently and with less harm to the traveler.

Planning for risks

The Study Abroad Association shared some tips that made sense for studying in another country. One of the most important aspects that they discuss is assessing the risks of the city you are going to be staying in. Doing research and learning more about what could be triggers for emergencies can go a long way to ensuring that the trip isn’t marred by emergencies.

Of course, you can’t predict everything, so here are some suggestions from SAA that make a lot of sense:

• Tell people your contacts for emergency procedures, including a phone chain or electronic communication.
• Locate hospitals, ambulance services and police departments where you are living
• Look for a cultural mentor – friend, teacher or local you may know – who you can turn to in case of emergency
• Consider medical insurance during the time you are traveling.



Insurance packages geared toward travelers

For that last suggestion, we can help. Lewerglobal knows about the unique needs of students studying abroad, and we can help you prepare for the unexpected twists and turns along the way.

To learn more, call us at 800-821-7711 or visit our website.