Arrival

If you’re taking part in a study tour, you’re probably going to be travelling with a group of other students and UniSA staff, and most of the travel and accommodation arrangements will have been arranged by the tour facilitator. Don’t make any assumptions though – it’s still important that you’re across the details of where you’re going and how you’ll get there. Be an active participant!

For everyone else, you’ll need to make arrangements yourself. Even if this means utilising the airport pick-up services of a host university or Mobility Experience Provider.

It’s important to think about how you’ll get to your initial accommodation, or you might end up stranded, left waiting, or in worst cases, even taken advantage of by someone looking to scam you.

Make sure you think about the below:

• What time does your flight arrive?
  While this seems obvious, it’s also an easy one to overlook. If your final flight gets in quite late, this may impact on what public transport services are available. You’ll probably also need to tell your accommodation provider that you’ll be arriving late. Make sure you’ve given yourself enough time to clear customs and safely get to your accommodation. Where it’s possible, we generally recommend trying to line up your travel plans so that you arrive at your final destination during daylight hours. Also think about public holidays, as in some countries many services aren’t readily available on public holidays, or even on Sundays. Check this ahead of time.
  
  
• Does your host institution or host university offer a free airport pick-up?
  If yes, confirm that it’s available for you on the day you’ll arrive, and pre-book as early as possible. Make sure your booking is confirmed and take a copy of the confirmation with you, along with any instructions of where to go or how to identify the service.
  
  
• How are you going to get out of the airport?
  Another simple one, but also easy to experience issues with! At some airports, the most obvious route of departure is via taxi or Uber (looking at you, Adelaide Airport). In many cases though, a city’s airport is located very far from the city itself, and a taxi may end up costing more than you bargained for. In such cases, there’s usually a connector bus or train that you can take which will significantly reduce the cost. Look into these options ahead of time and save yourself a lot of stress!
  
  
• Is your accommodation confirmed?
  Check and double check the details for your first night’s accommodation, and make sure you have a copy of the accommodation details, as well as how to get there, that you can access offline. You might not have access to a Wi-Fi connection when you first arrive so a printed copy, or a pdf on your phone, are a sensible back up.
  
  Also consider whether you’re required to check in before, or after, a certain time in the day. In case your flights are delayed, you’ll want to have a local phone number handy to reach the office.

• Do you have cash in the local currency?
  Make sure you have enough money to survive the first few hours (at least) in your new city. Enough for a taxi/train ticket, and perhaps the cost of a local meal. You want to make sure you either have, or have immediate access to, a way to pay for the first services you’ll need on arrival. Visit our Money Matters page for more tips.

One of the things you’ll need to plan before you leave is what you’ll do about staying connected, both locally as well as back home. If your overseas program is relatively short, you may decide it’s not worth trying to get a local sim. That being said, you’ll need to make sure your phone will still work in the new country. You might rely on Wi-Fi for most day-to-day communications, but you’ll need be contactable via phone as well, and able to be contacted, in case of an emergency. For example, if there is an emergency nearby your location, Healix may try and reach out to ensure you are safe, or you might need to ring them to get help. Check with your phone provider that you can use your phone overseas. Also make sure to ask about additional charges that may be incurred!

If you’ll be away for more than a few weeks, it might be cheaper or simpler to buy a local sim once you’ve arrived. Check with your phone provider that your phone is unlocked so you can use a different SIM Card in your phone and that you won’t have issues once you arrive. Depending on your provider, you may need to have your phone unlocked in store before you leave.

If you think you’ll get a new SIM card, check that you can suspend or break your current plan with your phone provider for the time you will be overseas. You may be able to get a plan with your current provider that will allow you to use your phone while overseas.

You can pre-purchase a Travel SIM Card through services such as Travel Sim, who have SIM cards available that can be used across the globe or look at eSIMs by companies such as Airalo. Make sure you are getting the right combination of SIM and phone to suit your needs, and do your research using travel websites, forums such as TripAdvisor, and by asking the Host Institution in your destination.

Get in touch with home

With more and more social media channels and freeware VOIP apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype and Viber available to almost everyone, it’s easier than ever before to keep in contact with family and friends while you’re away from home.

It sounds a little obvious, but you should make sure you phone (or text) home when you first arrive. While you’re just beginning the adventure of a lifetime, those left at home will be wondering if you arrived safely. Depending how far you’ve travelled, it’s possible that a couple of days have passed at home, and everyone breathes a little easier knowing their loved ones have arrived safely at their destination. Try to figure out the time difference in advance to give people an idea of when to expect you, and make sure they’re ok getting a notification at 3am on a Tuesday!

Even for practical reasons, it’s better to call or message when you first arrive than to wait until it’s urgent, as then you know you can get in contact if you need. Make sure you give people your updated contact details, including your new email address if you’ll be enrolled at a host university and checking the new account more regularly.

Get in touch with UniSA

It is vitally important that you keep in contact with UniSA while you’re away. Remember to:

• Check your UniSA student email regularly – if you’re away on semester exchange it can be easy to forget to keep checking your UniSA account, but you might miss some important info (like registering to graduate!) if you forget.
• Keep your UniSA inbox accessible by deleting unnecessary items regularly.
• Follow us on Instagram @unisaoverseas and tag and share your experiences with us.
• Update your address and emergency contacts as soon as you can:
  • If your overseas study program is short (less than three weeks) it should be enough for you to check that your contact details are correct in your MyUniSA student portal and with the Travel Risk Management company.
• If your overseas study program is longer than three weeks, we expect you to update your contact details:
  • With the Travel Risk Management company
  • In your myUniSA Student Portal, and
  • Via the webform you’ll be sent which updates your details with our team directly.