So, you want to experience the ultimate overseas adventure?

Whether you’re a gap year student or young traveller, taking a sabbatical or career break, a parent or guardian wanting to travel with your children, or in retirement and looking for your next adventure - The Big Trip is for you.

Advice and information in this comprehensive companion, now in its 4th edition, has been thoroughly revised and updated to include expert tips and recommendations that will help you create and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime dream adventure abroad.

We’ve also added a new section about how to use your time away to turn your life’s passion into a new career, with advice on gaining professional accreditation in climbing, mountaineering, diving, sailing, snowsports, wildlife guiding and more. There’s also a chapter on accessible travel by Martin Heng for specialist destination and travel advice for those with a disability.

Improved accommodation advice now covers everything from cheap and cheerful digs for budget backpackers to higher-end hotels for those wishing to spend more.

Experiences include:

Blackwater rafting through eerie glow-worm-lit Waitomo Caves in New Zealand

Attempting a Tibetan kora (pilgrimage) around Mt Kailash, Asia’s most sacred mountain

Surfing your way along Hawaii’s best beach breaks

Getting down and dirty at the Boryeong Mud Festival in Korea

Discovering your top temple at Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Volunteering on a marine conservation project off the coast of Madagascar

Learning to speak Italian at an institute in the heart of Rome

Stirring your soul along the sacred, ghat-lined Ganges in Varanasi, India

Learning to make Balinese dishes worthy of paradise

Climbing to Bhutan’s iconic cliff-clinging monastery, Taktshang Goemba

Taking a tandem hang-gliding flight from Pedra Bonita over Rio de Janeiro

Qualifying to teach everything from English to skiing, diving and mountaineering

The Big Trip is your ticket to all this and more:

you safe, nine best ways to save on air tickets online)

Regional overviews, maps and a diverse range of road-tested itineraries

Tips and stories from experts and travellers, who range from teenagers to seniors and those travelling with their kids

Comprehensive directory of essential resources