Speed up the transition from teenager to adult by leaping into the unknown. You’ll have to fend for yourself, buy your own meals and wash your own clothes, but it’ll all be worth it.

It’s not easy being independent – to paraphrase Destiny's Child – but it’s also a heck of a lot better than living with your parents as a 20-something.

You’ll actually get to experience your place of study in the long term, picking up local knowledge such as where sells the best coffee, what tourist traps to avoid and how to

You may not love every single person you meet, but chances are that you’ll meet at least one lifelong friend (if you’re good at keeping in touch, that is).

It’s easy to accept your own culture as absolute, but living in another country can help inform your point of view on your home culture, allowing you to develop your own views rather than simply accep

When you’re hundreds of thousands of miles away from home, spontaneity and adventurousness are your best friends. Open your mind up to new experiences and sights and the fun will come your way.

This of course depends on where you study abroad, but if you choose a location in many parts of continental Europe, Asia and Latin America, you’ll find it’s possible to study at a highly reputed universi

Your exposure to many different types of people will not only help you to develop your people skills, but it will also give you a firmer knowledge of others, both friend and foe.

Whether it’s in work, study or play, you’ll be able to use your new global mind-set to back up arguments, inform your beliefs and steer your future.

If you can explore a new country at the same time as picking up the international skills to gain a decent graduate job, then that’s pretty good going.

Cultural sensitivity isn’t just a quality which politicians may be accused of lacking; it’s also something you can develop while studying abroad!

Remember the foreign language skills you picked up in school? No, me neither. Refresh them by studying abroad; you might be surprised at how much you remember.

Get more paella /poutine /pierogi /schnitzel /shawarma /chimichanga /katsudon /bobotie /baklava (delete as appropriate) in your life.