Travel abroad is fraught with death and danger, or so your mother will try to convince you. The further you go, the more criminals there are, the more dodgy the food and the more poisonous the insects, and so the scare tactics roll on.

On my gap year I arrived in Washington as the DC Sniper began his campaign of indiscriminate terror, I was teaching in Beijing when Sars struck, and ambling around Phnom Penh during an electoral bomb scare.

These headlines left my parents quivering with fear (which I could mostly placate with the occasional reassuring e-mail), but I returned in one piece, having only suffered a few stomach upsets.

The most comforting thing to know is that wherever you are, the locals are likely to rush to your aid. In Beijing, when the respiratory scare began, we were showered with surgical masks, disinfectant and sachets of special “anti-Sars” tea.

No doubt as effective as the similarly packaged “weight-lossing” tea, the Chinese medicinal wisdom mattered less than the persistent care and concern with which we were lavished, and the 24-hour surveillance of our every cough and splutter.

But this over-eager hospitality can often be the accidental cause of ill-health.

Trekking between villages in northern Laos, the occupational hazard came not in the impromptu jungle meals, undercooked over campfires, but in the copious quantities of LaoLao whisky forced upon us at every turn.

It is impolite not to join in a toast, we were warned, but after several shots before breakfast, followed by a day-long kayaking trip in tropical heat, I arrived at the final village only to greet them with the contents of the previous night’s meal.

Enforced binge drinking aside, when hospitality stretches to your host preparing the “local speciality”, watch out. I misheard my Cambodian guide promising a feast of “duck”, and it was only after I had been munching on thicker bones than usual that he grinned and pointed to a scruffy mongrel in the corner, laughing “it was his brother”.

A similar misunderstanding in southern China led me to being presented with a bowl of stir-fried frogs, which I duly devoured and consequently spent the next day squatting above a sawn-off barrel of squirming maggots, showering them with half-digested amphibian.

These were perhaps the culinary low points, but most food fears are wholly unfounded. As long as it has been boiled or cooked to within an inch of its life, can be peeled or opened with a tin or bottle-opener, it is pretty safe.

Water, however, is something to watch; drink only bottled, boiled or purified and avoid ice. Likewise, treat salads with caution and avoid puddings and sweets that have been sitting out for several hours.

Above all, to ensure an adventurous and carefree trip, cover yourself before you leave. best deals for travel insurance can be found at moneysupermarket.com, and comprehensive health advice, including a list of recommended vaccinations that are much more reliable than at your local surgery, at traveldoctor.co.uk.

Finally, unless your idea of cultural immersion stretches to joining in a civil war, be sure to check travel advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (fco.gov.uk) before planning your trip.

Safety first:

- It is prudent to realise that you will look an easy target abroad and that it is worth taking simple measures that leave you free to get on with the experience of it all.

- The best way to avoid crime is to behave in a confident manner, neither aggressive nor vulnerable.

- If you think that the words “money belt” are seriously uncool, consider how relaxed you will feel with your cash and passport strapped snugly under your T-shirt.

- The importance of adhering to local dress codes, particularly for women concerned with their own safety, cannot be stressed enough.

- Keep taking the tablets: the Malaria Awareness Campaign says 1,758 travellers contracted the disease last year. Read our tips on minimising the risk here

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