It seems gap years are no longer just the domain of fresh-faced school leavers heading out to experience what the world has to offer and ‘find themselves’ before university or work.

Increasingly, people, either before or after retirement, are taking a gap year between jobs to go see the part of the planet they’ve long dreamed of visiting.

Deciding to head off is the biggest step, but budgeting and being savvy could mean the difference between running out of money and being forced to come home or having the time of your life doing just what you had in mind when you set off.

Research and set a budget

Thoroughly researching the parts of the world you want to cover will give you a rough idea of just how much you will need for the trip. Get your head around the local currencies and make sure you know roughly how far £1 will get you at each destination.

Keeping in mind price differences in each country, set a budget.

Make sure you don’t set a blanket x-amount of pounds a day type of budget – remember that somewhere like popular gap-year destination Cambodia will be much cheaper than say, Borneo.

Also, don’t be too tight with your money – often these trips are once in a lifetime – so don’t budget only eating what you cook in the hostel if you’re going through the home of paella in Seville or Naples’ pizzerias. You’ll miss the best bits.

Get your currency before you leave

Using ATMs, bureau de change and other money exchange places will leave a serious dent in your budget. Often these places will only give you a poor exchange rate with a high commission fee. A quick comparison online will show you the best travel money deals at the time.

All things plastic

Putting flights and internal travel on your credit card is a good idea for the added insurance should something go wrong. You should never take all your travel money in just one method – break up your money across a credit card, prepaid cards and cash.

Check how much your card provider will charge you if you use your card to get money out from a cash point, or what the exchange rate is and if it is set.

Loading up a prepaid card is a good way to make sure you don’t walk around with wads of cash.

Try and avoid using a debit card abroad except for emergencies – they often have very high commission rates and charge double for taking money out of ATMs.

Lastly, never ever put all your money and cards in the same place. Distribute it between different places so that if someone runs off with your purse you still have someway of accessing funds. There’s nothing worse than being stranded without a penny.

Be smart with where you withdraw cash as places frequented by foreigners are often targeted by fraudsters.

Get protection

Don’t get on that flight without the right insurance. Insurance is becoming increasingly affordable and getting a policy that covers all eventualities is a no-brainer. If you’re going to do sports and extreme activities, make sure you are covered for it. Even scuba diving is considered extreme, so read the fine print.

Carry copies

Photocopy your passport, travel documents, your insurance policy and all other important documents. Keep copies on yourself.

Emailing copies to your next of kin as well as your own email address is also smart – if you can’t find the copies you already had on you, you can just pop into an internet café and print off extras.

Work your way around the world

Working or volunteering for parts of the trip is a good way to cut costs (certain types of work or volunteer placements let the workers stay for free, or at a discount), supplement your budget as well as meet new people.

Make sure you research the places that you’re heading to, and always let people at home know exactly what you’ll be doing as well as for how long. Also check the work laws of the country to make sure you are allowed to work and how many hours or months etc.

Spend wisely before the trip

Realistically, if you’re heading off for a few months across different climes, it makes no sense to spend a fortune at home kitting up for the beach-bunny part of your holiday right at the end of your whole trip.

You’ll just end up carrying that stuff around for weeks if not months, and it’s almost always cheaper to buy abroad. Travel light.