About us
Travel Safe With Gap Year Survival
Expert guidance from the field — because disease kills more people than bombs or bullets ever will.
Our story
About Gap Year Survival
Dr Mike Leahy, the founder of Gap Year Survival, is an Oxford-educated virologist and TV presenter specialising in neglected tropical diseases and emerging viruses. After working as a research scientist both in the lab and in the field, he left academia to write and present science TV shows.
Between lab research and television work he also assisted international rallies, expeditions and other organisations working in hostile and remote parts of the globe in order to keep personnel safe from infectious disease. His mantra is that disease kills more people than bombs or bullets ever will.
Where Mike has a big advantage over others in his field is that he has deliberately infected himself with many of the diseases he has studied, in addition to growing parasites in his flesh and his intestines. He knows exactly how it feels to hallucinate while pulling fevers as high as forty-five degrees, or to collapse through dehydration. He has experienced six weeks of explosive diarrhoea, has passed four-metre-long tapeworms, and experienced Bot flies emerging from the flesh on his legs.
Mike has also experienced box jellyfish stings, the sting of a bullet ant, a funnel web spider bite, and has been unlucky enough to have huge tropical leeches feeding on his testicles. None of these experiences were particularly pleasant (although they did pay the bills), so his aim is to do his utmost to ensure that you don't inadvertently suffer the same fate.
Behind the scenes are a small and enthusiastic team — friends and experts.
Dr Mike Leahy
Founder — Oxford-educated virologist & TV presenter
Oxford
Educated virologist
45°C
Fevers survived
40k+
Travellers kept safe
"Mike has deliberately infected himself with many of the diseases he studies, grown parasites in his own flesh, and survived encounters most travellers never face. He built Gap Year Survival so you benefit from his hard-won knowledge — without having to live through it yourself."
— Dr Mike Leahy, Founder — Oxford-educated virologist & TV presenter
Our mission
Practical advice, zero fluff
Gap years change lives — but only if you actually go. We exist to remove every excuse not to: the fear, the confusion, the health uncertainty. Our guides are written by people who've been there, made the mistakes, and want to help you skip straight to the good parts.
Honest over aspirational
We tell you what things actually cost, what actually goes wrong, and what actually works — not what makes for a prettier blog post.
Practical over inspirational
Inspiration is easy to find. Knowing exactly which vaccinations to get and which diseases to watch for is harder. We focus on the latter.
Updated, not abandoned
Travel changes fast. Disease risks shift, visa rules move, apps come and go. We review every guide regularly so the advice stays current.
Ready to travel safely?
Head to our guides library — everything you need to plan, budget, and go.