If you've secured your university place but aren't quite ready to settle down and start studying immediately, taking a year to travel around the world can be an opportunity to experience new challenges and to learn about yourself. Saving up some money to see the corners of the globe you've always wanted to visit can be incredibly rewarding. It can also leave you in the right frame of mind to start knuckling-down when you get to university. Before you start booking flights, what are the best ways to figure out where to go to first?

The good news is that with a Holiday Extras single trip policy, if you are between 18-55 years of age you can travel up to 365 days so long as your trip starts and ends in the UK!

Travel the world for a year itinerary

The first step to planning your itinerary is deciding what your must-see destinations are. This will allow you to have a structure to your trip and ensure that you don't miss the places that you've always wanted to visit.

Some recommended sites are the hot air balloons in Cappadocia, Turkey, which makes for surreal viewing that challenges your depth-perception. With the Uyuni Salt Flats of Bolivia providing the most breath-taking views and also harbours lots of flamingo's, and Amazon Rainforest in Iquitos, Peru is a place not to be missed.

If you want to tick swimming with wildlife of your list, then snorkelling with whale sharks in Central America is a must. If you're a student who's planning to take a year out, then student travel insurance is a safety precaution to take to protect your belongings. It also enables you to travel without worrying about any medical emergencies that may occur during your trip.

The best travelling the world packages

The best travelling the world packages are often found in flash-sales and by providers such as STA travel. You can see Iceland, Toronto and New York for impressively low costs, as well as more wide-spanning packages for around double the price, such as the USA, Fiji, Australia and Malaysia.