It could be a gap year, a career break or a new beginning, but people who want to spend more than just a few weeks overseas will have to look for specialist travel cover.

Standard annual travel insurance policies won't be suitable because they have clauses stating that any one trip can't exceed a set number of days, usually around 31 or 45. Anyone who wants travel insurance for a longer journey will have to shop around for an extended stay or backpacker policy.

Extended stay policies are available up to periods of 13 months, but they're not cheap.

While standard multi-trip worldwide policies are available for as little as €36, the cost of insuring a 12-month visit to Australia and New Zealand ranges from €174 at Toptravelinsurance.com (a site owned by the Kindlon Insurance Group) to more than €300 at some providers.

AIB offers travellers the intriguing concept of backpacker insurance without covering the actual backpack, claiming on its travel insurance leaflet that this can save policyholders up to 50 per cent less.

For 12-month cover for Australia and New Zealand, sacrificing cover for baggage and personal money will result in a premium of €240, compared to a normal premium of €295.

EBS, which like AIB sells backpacker insurance provided by ACE Travel Insurance, offers cheaper premiums of €218 for the budget, no-baggage option and €268 for the standard backpacker premium.

Travellers who anticipate a thrill-seeking, action-packed year overseas should pay special attention to the type of cover offered under the policies.

Insurers have very different ideas of what constitutes a hazardous activity. On some policies, for example, people won't be covered for emergency medical treatment if they have an accident while bungee-jumping, while other ACE policies will allow a maximum of two bungee jumps.

Some backpacker policies will also specify medical cover for injuries sustained during light manual labour such as fruit-picking and waiting on tables.