spaarne, he's changed his mind and will <b>not</b> be going to Nigeria.

He is planning a number of stops in tropical areas, so he will be making a visit to a travel medicine clinic before long for vaccinations, anti-malarial medication, and general info about keeping himself healthy in such places.

artsnletters,

You posted while I was composing. Good to see that Nigeria is out.

I agree with the others about an onward ticket. That may be the deal breaker if he doesn't have it. I was only asked once, at AMS years ago. I didn't have it but I had a rail pass and a bundle of travelers checks starting a three month roundabout on the Continent. I was admitted.

You know the major issue by your description of SYM. He looks bad so he will raise suspicion. It doesn't matter that London has loads of kids like that, the passport police have a singular duty in life -- protect the border. Maybe SYM could go to the Salvation Army store and buy a suit for $20. That could raise his credibility. After he got into to the UK throw the suit away.

Norcalif - Are you saying you had no visas to stay in the Netherlands a year?

He might encounter his first problems at the US airport with the one-way ticket. DD spent 6 months in Spain (with visa) and decided to come home for a week vacation and booked a r/t ticket Madrid/US/Madrid. When she was returning to Spain, everything was questioned and looked at because she had no return ticket to the US. Of course, she was able to produce the visa, but they really took a long look at the dates on it.

He will need to get a visa in advance to enter India - and for that he will need proper vaccinations. I believe all that has to be taken care of in the USA before his departure. He should also check on the visa requirements for whatever African countries he plans to visit. Kenya, I know, requires a visa, but you can buy it at the airport when you enter. Other African countries (and Asian ones too) may require advance visas and vaccinations. He should have malaria pills as well - enough to cover his stays in countries where they might be needed.

Scruffy appearance is not an issue. Scruffy men enter the UK and everywhere else all the time. If he has a recent bank statement, a credit card, and a plausible explanation of his plans, he should be OK, EXCEPT for the onward ticket issue. I would urge him to do some research into a cheap, refundable plane, train, or ferry ticket to another country, buy it, and then plan to actually leave GB within a reasonable amount of time, even if it's not on that original ticket.

Glad to hear he's not going to Nigeria.

Everything you do has consequences. It has nothing to do with legal or illegal. You seem concerned about his dreadlocks and how people will view him. You seem concerned that his dreadlocks will cause officials to view him in a negative manner. That may or may not happen. If he doesn't like how people pre-judge him, he might change his hairstyle. On the other hand, there are people who will find him an interesting and intelligent man. He will have to decide by his experiences how he wants to go forward.

artsnletters: feel this saga drawing to a close, but you MUST promise to provide us with updates.

I would love to think that Fodors can provide a perspective on travel experience very different from the sort that most posters see.

"Sandy" was an unpleasant and probably bogus example. But my own kids travel all over the world and do couch surf successfully. Personally, I would love to see Trip Reports (even second-hand, if you can't induce son to write his own) about this sort of adventure travel.

It's probably too late for this to be of any help, since he's already got the ticket directly to London, but my experience with UK customs (although this is 20 years old-so it may have changed) is that they are much less fussy when you are crossing in overland from Ireland. My roomate and I were waved through the line in Belfast getting off the train from Dublin-never even opened the passports, much less had anyone look at them or ask us questions-much to our amazement. I assume I must have shown somebody something for the ferry trip from Dublin to Holyhead, but I have no recollection of it, and there certainly wasn't any scrutiny of my intentions. Two years later, in Heathrow, with a return ticket to the USA dated for less than two weeks later, I was asked multiple questions about the distant cousins in Liverpool I've never met!

kybourbon re: your question: "Norcalif - Are you saying you had no visas to stay in the Netherlands a year? "

Yes, I'm saying we had no onward ticket and no visa or other official paperwork to stay in the Netherlands when we arrived. And absolutely no questions of any sort were asked.

After we had been there a few months we got a residence permit that enabled us to stay for a year. This was the way we were told to do it by the university DH was doing research at. I'm certainly not suggesting random travelers try this. If we HAD been questioned at entry, we would have been able to show some correspondence from the University showing they were sponsoring DH's research, but since no one asked us anything, we didn't show them anything. (I'm telling you, it was the tiara that did it.)

And actually, the reason we didn't have a return ticket home is that we could not purchase a ticket for a date slightly over a year ahead of when we were arriving - the airline wouldn't let us book that far ahead. Kind of frustrating actually.

barbara, he's indifferent to how he's perceived, as he's grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area where you can present yourself in almost any fashion you choose without drawing a second glance. It's me who worries, as I know the grandparents, who live in more conservative Reno, shudder to see him, so I'm aware that others may not be as impressed with his hippie couture.

persimmondeb, the student air ticket fell through, although I'm still finding $250 one-way fares for London. His timeline is based around a concert ticket he has for October 30, but he's talking about going a little sooner, so that might make heading to Ireland a possibility. I will look into it - thanks!

If I have enough information about his adventures to post, I'll be sure to do it. I could gets lots if we were checking in by phone, but he wasn't even happy with my request that he send an e-mail once a week anyway letting me know what part of the world he's in.

Thanks to all for your help! I will at least let you know how the entry goes, once it has happened.

To clarify my last post, when I said "I"m certainly not suggesting random travelers try this", I meant that I don't think any traveler should try to enter a country counting on having no questions asked.

I AM suggesting it may be just fine for a random traveler to have no firm onward ticket (I think Immigration is aware that tickets can be cancelled/refunded, so an onward ticket may not be worth the paper it's printed on.) So I think anyone needs to be prepared to have a logical, sincere explanation for their plans and be willing to discuss them, showing some sort of corroborating evidence if possible.

But hey, I can only speak from my own experience, don't know what the rules are supposed to be. I spent an entire year (just got home a few weeks ago) in Europe and was never asked to produce my residence permit anywhere. I did only travel back and forth to the Netherlands within Schengen though - France, Germany, Spain, etc. until I left for the States. Where I was also NOT asked to show any proof it had been legal for me to be in Europe for so long.

The reason I mentioned a credit card is that in most countries a credit card counts as an "onward or return ticket".

Do the rest of you really think that a return or onward ticket is any proof that the person is returning or moving onward? The immigration officials certainly know better than that! (Especially since so many round trip tickets are cheaper than one way tickets, even on the Eurostar.)

SYM absolutely should not waste money on buying an onward ticket ahead of time if there is any chance that he won't actually use it for that specific trip (such as a cheap nonrefundable Eurostar ticket).

When travelling from Ireland to the UK, you don't need to show your passport - there is a seperate entry lane where you walk right through (you just have to pay attention to the signs) without going through immigration.

So, no questions should be asked unless you are singled out for whatever reason.

<<< When travelling from Ireland to the UK, you don't need to show your passport - there is a seperate entry lane where you walk right through >>>

Not any more

artsnletters-you asked about Ghana? We have had 7 crewmembers come down with malaria since last November-one flight attendant picked it up in Ghana and has since died. Please stress to your son both for Africa and India the importance of the pills.
My son just returned after working two years in India in the northern region-he has stressed that your son needs to realize how big and far India really is.DS doesn't think that your son will have enough money to accomplish all the countries and lifestyle that he wants to do for a year. India is cheaper than Western Europe but things do add up.
DS also came home with a parasite-ah the joys of living and traveling in 3rd world countries!!Do stress that the poverty and despair in alot of the countries he wants to visit is not like going to Italy or Japan.

alanRow - when did this change ... in the past few months?

"ah the joys of living and traveling in 3rd world countries"

You don't have to travel abroad to see a third world country, just go to Queens,NY or Los Angles.LOL

Apart from having the correct medication for travelling outside Europe your son will need medical and repatriation insurance to cover all the areas of the world he hopes to visit unless you want to stump up if it all goes wrong. While it can go wrong many young people travel with no problems but insurance is there for the unexpected. No I don't sell insurance I'm just cautious.

From the UK Borders Agency this is the cryptic advice on the website.

"How do I qualify to travel to the UK as a visitor?
In general, you must show that:
you want to visit the UK for no more than six months;
you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit, and
you have enough money to support yourself and live in the UK without working or needing help from public funds."

He has to convince the officials at immigration of these points, if unconvinced he will be turned back.

Visas for other countries for any extensive stay should be applied for from the home country. This is the basic international system.

Countries he may he travelling to in Asia will want to know about his immunisation, particularly if he has recently visited another Asian country where a particular illness is prevalent.

As Helen says, get vaccinated and get plenty of anti-malarial pills to take with you, and make sure you know which countries you will need to take them, and when to start/finish taking them.

And he really does need a good travel insurance policy.

One of my daughters spent several months travelling (backpacking) extensively in SE Asia and American Express tailor-made a policy for her. We did have to make a claim for stolen property (it happened in Laos) when she got home but it was no big deal with them. Amex were very littke more expensive than other companies, and offered a better level of cover. Also the name does count for something if you have to get a police report or medical documents in a foreign country.

My younger daughter has an annual world-wide policy with American Express, and we chose them because they cover almost every eventuality and have a good repatriation insurance (not all policies do).

Please excuse me, the rest of you who have been so helpful.

Helen, I sound the constant drumbeat about vaccinations and anti-malarials. I hope he's going to be visiting a travel medicine clinic this week.

julia_t, we're currently investigating travel medical insurance. My son knows well that I don't have the resources to help if he ends up in dire circumstances abroad, so he doesn't have a choice about getting it. We will definitely look into American Express.

Hi artsnletters,

I've been reading your thread and it sounds very interesting that your son is planning on a whirlwind world tour. He certainly is very brave and must be very adventurous.

I wanted to chime-in about the vaccinations. Make sure that he is not allergic (or might have problems from side-effects) to any of the vaccinations, esp. the anti-malarial vaccination. The reason I mention this is because I had a friend who went to South America a few years ago to travel/go hiking/explore and the anti-malarial meds he took caused him to lose his balance on a hike. He fell off the mountain and died at the age of 24. His father was a doctor, and discovered that the side-effects of the anti-malarial drugs caused the accident.


Take care, and I hope that your son has an incredible travel experience.