U.S. Gov Info for International Travel
Do these before we leave, in this order. Every link goes to the official government site. No other site needs your money.
Passport
The UK requires it to be valid for your whole stay. France requires it to be valid for at least three months after we leave on 11 Jan 2027, so it must run past 11 Apr 2027. Keep a photo of the ID page on your phone and a paper copy in your luggage, apart from the passport itself.
UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
Required for every U.S. citizen entering the UK. Apply only at gov.uk/eta: £20, tied to the passport you will carry, usually decided within three working days, and good for two years of visits.
EU Entry/Exit System (EES)
There is no form. At the EU border your passport is scanned and your photo and fingerprints are recorded. On this trip that happens in London, at St Pancras, before we board the Eurostar, because French border police check passengers before departure. It takes time, and the schedule allows for it. How EES works.
ETIAS
The EU’s planned travel authorization will not be required for this trip. Any site selling “ETIAS” is not official. The EU’s own page.
STEP 🇺🇸
Enroll in the State Department’s free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program with our dates and both cities. The embassies in London and Paris then have your contact information in an emergency.
Travel Advisories
The UK and France are both Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, chiefly for terrorism, and in France for demonstrations. The UK’s own threat level has stood at “severe” since 1 May 2026; France has been at its highest Vigipirate level, “urgence attentat,” since 5 Jan 2026. Expect armed police and bag checks at museums and stations. That is normal. Read both country pages; the TJC waiver you signed says you have.
Health
The CDC asks that routine vaccines be current for the UK and France. Get a flu shot in December. We travel at the peak of flu season in both countries.
U.S. Embassy London
33 Nine Elms Lane, London SW11 7US. +44 20 7499 9000, 24 hours. uk.usembassy.gov
U.S. Embassy Paris
2 avenue Gabriel, 75008 Paris. +33 1 43 12 22 22, 24 hours. fr.usembassy.gov
Emergency numbers
UK: 999 (112 also works). France: 112, which has English-speaking operators, or 15 for an ambulance, 17 for police, 18 for fire. Save all of them in your phone before we fly.
TJC Info for International Travel
TJC requires the paperwork below before the travel part of the class.
Assumption of Risk Waiver / Hold Harmless Agreement
The “Study Abroad Program” name is HUMA1301 - Humanities: Art, & the Sacred.
Health Clearance Form
Requires a handwritten signature from your health care provider (an M.D. or D.O.), who returns the form to TJC directly.
Authorization to Disclose Student Medical Information
List 2 people you trust with your medical information, such as a parent or guardian.
Student Travel Guidelines
Complete Appendix E (Release/Indemnification Form for Adult Students, p. 11), Appendix H (Traveler Information Sheet, p. 14), Appendix I (Medical Consent and Release Form, p. 15), Appendix J (Participant Responsibility Form, p. 16), and Appendix N (Participant Acknowledgement: Student Code of Conduct Guidelines for School-Related Off-Campus Activities, p. 21), and sign the Acknowledgments of Participation Requirements for Course Credit on p. 23.
ADA Abroad Waiver
Read and sign.
Insurance
Check TJC for latest info. As far as I know, TJC carries a student accident policy that covers injuries during supervised program activities, including group travel, up to $25,000 per accident with no deductible. It does not cover sickness. The program’s trip insurance, arranged through our travel provider, is the second layer; its coverage and claim procedure will be posted here once confirmed. Carry a copy of both cards.
The standard rules of the TJC Student Handbook, including the Student Code of Conduct, apply to students participating in a Study Abroad program, in both countries and at every hour. While we are together, treat the time and the space as you would a classroom.
TJC’s Jurisdiction includes Everywhere We Go
The Code “shall apply to conduct that occurs on College premises, at College-sponsored activities or off-campus” (Article II).
Alcohol
Alcohol “may not, in any circumstance, be used by, possessed by or distributed to any person under twenty-one (21) years of age,” and “being under the influence of alcohol and/or intoxication” is a violation at any age. That overrides the 18 drinking age in London and Paris (Article III).
Also Enforceable Abroad
Failure to comply with your professor’s reasonable directives; demonstrations that disrupt; lewd or disorderly conduct; recording people without consent.
Sanctions
Sanctions run from probation to expulsion (Article IV); the Drug-Free Campus statement repeats the zero-tolerance rule. The sent-home rule is in the waiver you sign: expulsion from the trip means an escort to the airport, no refund, and the costs charged to your TJC account.
TJC Alerts
TJC Alerts (Rave) can carry up to 3 phone numbers, so add a parent’s before we leave.
Unit & Buddy System Explained
Three rules run the trip. Each one is a pass/fail condition of the course.
Official TJC Requirements
Every deadline, and every meeting time and place, is an official TJC requirement. Missing one is a failure to comply with a College official’s directive under the Student Code of Conduct, and it carries the consequences described above, including early removal from the trip at your own expense.
If You Miss Roll Call
Morning roll call will be in person only. If you miss a morning roll call, then you stay at the hostel until the afternoon activity. You will then find your own transportation, with Professor Jerkins’ approval of the route by text, and arrive at least 30 minutes before we do. You cannot stop to eat and you cannot go anywhere else. You are not permitted to find your own transportation to a morning activity; we leave together for each of those. Simply put, if you miss out, you miss out.
The Buddy System
You will know where your buddy is at all times. Other than back at the hostel or on a plane, you should be able to yell and your buddy hears you. Be within yelling distance on restroom breaks. Be within arm’s reach on public streets. Be within sight of each other at every museum, church, eatery, and other stop.
With permission, buddy teams can join up for larger numbers. A buddy can be left at the hostel only if (A) Prof. Jerkins has given permission, (B) the buddy who stays does not leave the hostel, and (C) the new, third-member of a Buddy Team stays with their new group and follows every Buddy System requirement. We will default back to regular, two-person Buddy Teams each morning at Roll Call.
There will not be a nightly headcount (Prof. Jerkins goes to bed early). Instead, every student must show on Find My at the hostel before 10pm (local time) each night. On the morning we fly out, 4 Jan, before we leave TJC, each student will share their Find My location with Prof. Jerkins for the length of the trip. Roll call is in the morning, at a time and place given the day before. It will be followed by the Daily Briefing.
Above all: you are not allowed to go anywhere by yourself, even for a few minutes.
We are a Unit
One rule stands above the Buddy System and binds all ten of you: every student has a general responsibility for every other student. If you see someone running late, help them. If someone is struggling, help them. If Prof. Jerkins asks where someone is, it is the whole Unit’s responsibility to know. No one gets left out. No one gets left behind. On this trip there are no cliques. We are a 10-person Unit, constantly looking out for each other.
When Things Go Wrong
Prof. Jerkins’ Number
You will receive it on 4 Jan. Save my number as a favorite with emergency bypass on, so it rings through Do Not Disturb at 2 am.
Phone Safety
London’s signature crime is phone snatching from bikes and mopeds, not pickpocketing. Put the phone away before you reach the curb, and when you must use it on the street, stand with your back to a wall. Turn on Find My and the stolen-device lock before we leave. In both cities, keep the phone out of sight on the Tube and the Métro doors, where thieves step off as the doors close.
Crossing the Street
Look both ways, every time. Traffic runs on the left in London, so the car you did not see comes from the right. In both cities the bike lanes you step into carry silent bikes and scooters at speed.
Lost or Stolen Passport
Tell Prof. Jerkins at once! File a police report, then go to the embassy together with your passport copy and a photo. The State Department warns that the 12-page emergency passport is not valid for entry into France, so a passport lost in London has to be reported before we board the Eurostar on 8 Jan.
Theft
A police report is the only document an insurer or a bank will accept. In London, report online at met.police.uk. In Paris, any police station can take your statement in English through the SAVE system for foreign visitors. For a stolen phone, call your carrier first to block the SIM, then mark it lost in Find My. For a stolen card, call the bank; the number is on the second card you kept somewhere else.
Getting Sick
Start with a pharmacist. In both countries they diagnose and sell more than American pharmacists can. In London, the NHS 111 line and A&E are free for visitors; a hospital admission is not. In Paris, the green cross marks a pharmacy, 15 is the medical line, and a doctor can come to the hostel through SOS Médecins. Pay, keep every receipt, and claim later.
Nearest to where we stay in London: Boots, 40 to 42 Brunswick Centre, WC1N 1AE, +44 20 7278 5040, four minutes on foot, open 8:30 am to 6:30 pm weekdays, 9 to 5 Saturday, 11 to 5 Sunday. For late evenings, Boots at St Pancras station, +44 20 7833 0216, open until 10 pm, ten minutes on foot.
Nearest to where we stay in Paris: Pharmacie du Marais, 119 rue Saint-Antoine, +33 1 42 72 20 44, three minutes on foot, open 8:30 am to 9 pm daily; and St. Paul Pharmacy, 71 rue Saint-Antoine, +33 1 48 87 79 55, the same hours. Open 24 hours: Pharmacie de la Place de la République, 5 place de la République, +33 1 47 00 18 08, twenty minutes on foot or three stops on the Métro.
Separated from the Group
Stay where you last saw us for fifteen minutes. Message the group chat with where you are. Then go to the day’s meeting point from the Daily Briefing. If an hour or more has passed, make your way back to the hostel. If Prof. Jerkins calls the hostel and two hours have gone by with no sign of you, he will presume it is now a police matter.
An Attack or an Alarm
Run, Hide, Tell. Get away from the danger if you can; if you cannot, hide, silence your phone, and lock or barricade the door; when it is safe, call 999 or 112 and then the group chat. Follow police instructions without discussion.
Packing for Europe in January
Pack for 8 days of walking in a cold, wet city, with one bag you can carry up a flight of stairs, by yourself, with a smile on your face.
The Weather
January in London and Paris runs about 45°F by day and the mid-30s at night, with rain on most days and daylight gone by 4:30 pm. It rarely snows. The cold is damp and gets into your clothes; the cure is layers and a dry outer shell, not one heavy coat.
Clothes
A waterproof, hooded shell; a warm mid-layer such as a fleece or sweater; a hat, gloves, and a scarf; and enough base layers for 3 days. Dark colors hide rain and dirt. Churches do not require special dress in winter, but a cover for shoulders and knees is a cultural expectation at Westminster Abbey and Notre-Dame in Paris.
Shoes
One pair of broken-in, waterproof boots or shoes. We will walk 6-9 miles a day on wet pavement and stand for 3 to 4 hours in museums. New shoes, canvas sneakers, and heels will hurt you by Wednesday.
The Day Bag
A small bag that zips and sits in front of you, worn across the body. It carries your passport copy, cards, phone, power bank, umbrella, and water. Large backpacks are checked at the door of most museums, so keep it small enough to carry through.
Luggage
One suitcase or backpack you can lift onto a train rack and carry up stairs without help. The Métro and the Tube have few elevators. Put a luggage tag on it with your name and email, not your home address.
Phone and Power
The UK uses Type G plugs and France uses Type E, both at 230 volts. Bring one adapter for each, a power bank, and a charging cable you can spare. Set up an international phone plan or an eSIM before we leave, and download offline maps for both cities. The group chat and Find My only work if your phone does.
Money
London is pounds and Paris is euros, and both cities run on contactless cards. Bring two cards and keep them in different places. Tell your bank the dates and countries. Carry about £50 and €50 in cash for the few places that want it. Use ATMs attached to banks, not the standalone ones in tourist areas, and when a card reader offers to charge you in dollars, choose the local currency instead.
Medicines
Prescription medicines travel in their original labeled containers, in your carry-on, with enough for the trip plus a few days. Carry a copy of each prescription. If a medicine is a controlled drug in the U.S., such as an ADHD stimulant or a strong painkiller, also carry a short letter from the prescriber, which the UK and France may ask to see. Pack a small kit: pain reliever, blister pads, cold medicine, and anything you take at home. I strongly recommend baby powder too.
Documents
Your passport, your ETA confirmation, a paper copy of your passport ID page packed apart from the passport, and the two embassy numbers saved in your phone. Nothing else needs printing.
Small Things That Matter
A compact umbrella. Earplugs and a sleep mask for shared rooms. A small padlock for a locker. A reusable water bottle. A few plastic bags for wet clothes.
Do Not Pack List
Leave these at home. Most will be taken at airport security or at a museum door, and some are illegal where we are going.
Weapons of Any Kind
Pepper spray and mace are illegal to possess in the UK and cannot fly in any case. Knives of any size, including multitools and pocketknives, are not allowed at College-sponsored activities and will be taken at museum security. No stun guns, and nothing shaped like a weapon.
Drones
Both countries restrict them, and there is no time to fly one.
Pills Outside Their Labeled Container
A loose pill, a pill organizer, or a bottle with someone else’s name on it reads as an unlabeled drug to a border officer and to the TJC Code of Conduct. Keep everything in the pharmacy container it came in.
Appliances Built for 120 Volts
A U.S. hair dryer, straightener, or power strip plugged into 230 volts can burn out or catch fire. Bring only devices marked 100 to 240 volts, which includes nearly every phone and laptop charger, or buy a cheap dryer there.
Full-Size Liquids in Your Carry-On
Each container must be 100 ml (3.4 oz) or less, all in one clear quart bag, at every airport and at the St Pancras train station.
Valuables
Do not take large amounts of cash, jewelry, or anything you cannot afford to lose. Pickpockets in both cities are skilled, and the waiver you signed says your property is at your own risk.
A Bag You Cannot Carry
If you cannot lift it onto a train and carry it up two flights of stairs, pack lighter.
Bring Copies!
Passport page, prescriptions, and insurance card all travel as a copy too, kept apart from the original.
