Preparation is the key

We started planning this trip about three years ago - before my partner's university course had even started. As anyone with a long-term health condition knows, being prepared is the key to any trip or adventure.

Planning to spend a year abroad has involved finding the best place to go to, huge amounts of research into health care, 'exporting' state benefits, bank accounts, telephones and broadband etc. Being a bit too old for university campus accommodation, we have also needed to find somewhere to live.

It is easy to underestimate how complex all these things are to organise or even understand. We rightly gave ourselves plenty of time to find our way through all the conflicting advice and information. Of course, some things might not work out the way we expect, but we'll probably understand why and will be able to put them right.

There is also the small matter of language! I studied French for three years at school, about 25 years ago. So I spent a couple of years rediscovering the basics, practiced speaking on holiday and then I enrolled on an 'intermediate' level course for the past year. I now have something to build on in the next twelve months.

The existence of Colitis and Crohn's associations in France and the UK has been reassuring and helpful. Both members of the European Federation of Crohn's & Ulcerative Colitis Associations (EFCCA), NACC and AFA have been useful resources in helping my UK medical team make contact with the gastroenterology service in Caen.

Perhaps the biggest challenge has been to understand how my sickness benefits in the UK will be paid to me when I'm in France and how I might (or might not) get health cover when I away. This will be a subject for the future, because we've not quite finished the process yet...