We are happy to arrange your international flights for you and can advise on the best airlines for your destination. With children in tow it is obviously key to have as few stopovers (if any) as possible and to keep the overall duration to a minimum. We will make suggestions accordingly but will also take into account your budget, as direct flights tend to be more expensive.

We can arrange flights from anywhere in the world so please ask us for a quotation from your nearest airport.

If you would prefer to arrange your own flights this is fine and we will give you a ‘land only’ quote.

We will be able to advise you on whether you need a visa for your chosen destination and, if so, how best to go about arranging this. We do not arrange visas ourselves but can put you in contact with visa specialists who can arrange these on your behalf if needed.

We recommend that you visit your local GP or travel clinic two months before your trip starts to discuss whether any vaccinations or medication are required for your trip.

Although we are not able to give formal medical advice about vaccinations and whether you need to take malaria tablets we often find that families are given slightly ambiguous medical advice without a definitive answer as to whether certain inoculations are required. In such situations we are always happy to tell you what decisions we have made when in a similar situation.

A number of our holidays do visit areas where malaria is present. You will therefore need to ensure that you have discussed your holiday with your doctor and have taken the appropriate precautions. Anti-malarial pills are very effective, particularly when combined with the use of a mosquito repellent and the wearing of long sleeves/trousers at dawn and dusk, and can be taken by everyone, including very young children. (There are pediatric versions available for most of the different malarial drugs).

If you decide that despite this, you do not wish to visit anywhere that may have malaria, please let us know and we can tailor your itinerary accordingly.

Unfortunately the hygiene in many of the countries that we visit is not the same as that in the UK. We would advise you to take appropriate precautions (for example, take hand sanitiser with you and use this before meals) but there is still a chance that someone will get a stomach bug.

In the vast majority of cases this will be nothing more severe than a mild bout of diarrhea or vomiting and the main thing you need to do is to ensure that you drink a lot of water and remain hydrated. If you become concerned, we will assist you in obtaining medical help.

Although serious medical problems are extremely unlikely, you do need to be adequately prepared. A requirement of travelling with Stubborn Mule is that you have a comprehensive travel insurance policy. What this actually means in practice is that, if someone does get sick;

a) You can get 24-hour medical support and advice from the insurance company doctors

b) If treatment or a hospital visit is required, the insurance company will ensure that this is at the best local facility.

In addition to this, our local office will provide all the necessary assistance, for example sending someone with you to a hospital to help with any language difficulties, or arranging a doctor to come to your hotel.

Travel is unpredictable. We might plan an itinerary down to the last detail only for you to find that for example a road has been closed for some reason, or inclement weather means that a particular activity has to be cancelled.

Although in reality such problems are unlikely, if something does occur, our local team are on hand to sort it out. Stubborn Mule have a local office in every one of our destinations, run by English speaking staff with a huge amount of experience in the travel industry and dealing with the kinds of problems that may arise. You will be given a 24-hour contact number for this office and can be confident that if you do need assistance, you have someone locally who will be on hand to provide it.

You will also be given the Stubborn Mule UK emergency contact number which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

This means that you can enjoy your holiday comfortable in the knowledge that every effort has been made to ensure that it progresses smoothly. However in the unlikely event that something does go wrong, you can be confident that you will have all the assistance that you will need in order to deal with it.

There is mobile phone coverage available in the majority of places that we visit, enabling you to stay in contact with people at home. However, we also suggest that you leave our Stubborn Mule UK emergency number with someone at home as a back-up.

Therefore if you do need to be contacted urgently and cannot be contacted directly for whatever reason, your friends / family can call us and we will be able to make contact with you very quickly.