Travel guidebooks can be a great resource for study abroad, but most are not tailored to your specific interests or needs. There will also be a great deal of personal and program information that you should take abroad with you.  A great way to prepare for your upcoming program is to create your own Personalized Study Abroad Handbook. You can include personal information, practical resources, and the research you collect about your host country. This is not only fun and useful, but also a great memento of your program. Most of the information you will want to include online, so search site such as tourist information, American expatriate sites, embassy homepages, and cultural etiquette where you can cut and paste the information into your handbook.   You can still make use of your travel guidebooks by photocopying relevant information to include in your personalized book.  The end result is that you have everything in one handy place!
Here are some suggestions on what to include:

• Name, address, phone number, and email of the host family or residence where you will be staying while abroad.
• Your personal emergency contact name, phone number, address, and email.
• Your study abroad office contact information both abroad, and at home.
• The phone, fax, and email address for your academic advisor.
• The ISEP Institutional Information Sheet for your host university.
• Procedures for studying abroad with your school that would be useful to have while abroad.
• ISEP health insurance information.
• The Emergency information page for ISEP: http://www.isep.org/health_safety/emergency.html.
• A copy of your passport, your flight information, and your travel itinerary.
• The address, directions, and phone number to the nearest American Embassy in your host country.
• Addresses, phone numbers, and emails to all the friends and family you will want to write from abroad. Print stick-on address labels and include the pages in your book! Email is the cheapest and easiest, but postcards are fun, and writing letters can be therapeutic!
• Instructions on how to make phone calls from your host country to the US.
• Conversion sheets for the metric system, currency, Fahrenheit to Celsius, oven settings, clothing and shoe size charts, and power outlet voltages.
• Special recipes from home. Plan to do a little cooking for your hosts!
• Country maps, city maps, subway maps, maps of places you plan to visit. Directions from the nearest subway, bus, or train to the places you plan to go.
• Translation charts. You can find many charts online with common phrases, food and menu translations, and pronunciation. Include language translation information for additional countries you will be traveling to while abroad.
• Landmarks and places of interest. Although store-bought travel guides may provide this condensed information, it is all available online, and the research you will do looking for it can be very informative. Tourist type websites usually list historical information, admissions costs, opening times, directions, and special events for places of interest.
• Historical, political, and current event information about your host country. Understanding the host culture and its past will make your trip more fulfilling. Information on politics and current event swill provide you with conversation topics as well as understanding of the culture.
• Information about the culture of your host country. Find a site about cultural etiquette and taboos. Research sports, music, authors, food, and pop culture.
• Special events that will occur while you are abroad. You can find festivals, concert schedules, and other event information online.
• Information and locations of services you might need. Computer access is sometimes a problem abroad, but there are many Internet cafes. Include a page in your book with locations of the cafes near your residence.
• Although you should limit your time spent with other Americans, and in places that Americans and other tourist congregate, you may experience a time when you need American companionship. Look for a few places to speak English, eat familiar food, watch a movie, or shop. But please don't go there too often!!
• Leave blank pages in between sections and at the end. You may want to write something down later.

After gathering all your documents and printouts, get your Personalized Study Abroad Handbook bound at a printing shop for around $5.