Why Should You ALWAYS buy Travel Insurance?
We absolutely love to travel. The anticipation of discovering new places and meeting new people is food for the soul. Don’t you think? But how many times have you packed your bags (or backpacks) and took off without even thinking about travel insurance?
Let me tell you just four stories to elucidate the 4 reasons why you should always buy travel insurance. Or alternatively, sign up after you are already on the road.
There is a saying in the Portuguese language that goes “Insurance died of old age”. Although I have used this saying all my life, I never truly understood what it meant, until….
1 – My first (and last) snowboard experience
My first experience snowboarding happened when I was 31 years old. I had lived in Italy, USA and Switzerland, where snow activities are very popular, but I never took chances. I always thought that it could be dangerous and that I could get seriously hurt.
Time passed.
At age 30 I had a failed attempt to go snowboarding. What does that mean? I bought a 5-day vacation package to the Sierra Nevada, in Spain, but ended up staying in the hotel room. I was too afraid to even try! The cold bothered me and the hight petrified me.
That was it! My pride (and my pocket) had been hurt by my wimpiness! Action was needed. So finally, one year later, I was determined to give it a serious try. I got a group of friends together and we headed to Picos D’Europa for five days, again in Spain. I had five wonderful days, despite spending most of it alone in the “baby slopes”, as my friends called it. My happiness was abruptly interrupted at the last moment before leaving the slopes to return to Portugal. Why? I intentionally threw myself into the frozen snow as a mean to stop the snowboard! The fall was silly, but the result was serious. I was glamorously transported from the spot where I fell to the closest hospital by helicopter because the paramedics did not want to touch me! My right arm broke in two spots and decided to take its own new location on the back of my body! (No gory details necessary!).
I returned home with my arm all wrapped up, a lot of pain and the fear of receiving a bill for the helicopter ride plus hospital expenses. I later found out that the forfeit ticket included insurance in case of an accident. However, it did not cover the costs of my recovery, which took a total of eight months, including constant x-rays, re-wrapping of arm every couple of weeks and four months of daily physiotherapy.
What do I suggest after that episode? ALWAYS buy travel insurance.
2 – From India with love (and a fat bill)
It took me years to convince my mother to buy regular health insurance. When she finally made up her mind she went for the full international coverage. She believed it would be useful due to her frequent trips to Brazil, Italy and India. Although she was paying a fortune, it made total sense considering the frequency of her travels.
Years went by and she never needed to activate her insurance, until the day she became very ill in India. She caught a terrible cold that left her in bed for the whole duration of her two-week business trip. She had caught pneumonia. You may ask yourself “Pneumonia In India?”. Yes, dear readers, my mother caught pneumonia in India!
Hospital, doctors, medicine, not to mention the work time lost, all gone to waste, because the requirements from her health insurance at home were such that made it impossible to cover the incurred expenses.
So much for full-coverage health insurance!
What does my mother say about travel insurance now? “ALWAYS buy travel insurance!”
3 –Trading expensive sunglasses for one old flip-flop
Very recently, we took a mangrove tour in the Malaysian island of Langkawi. We joined some guests from our Workaway volunteer work, at Alamanda Villas and took off to Tanjung Ruh Beach early enough to avoid the midday heat. We were excited about the tour because we had been on the island for almost a month, but so far had no time to explore.
Things went sour on the first five minutes of the tour when the boat driver started speeding, trying to show us a fun time. The front of the boat bounced so powerfully that most of us lost one or both flip-flops, which were sitting at the front of the boat. We went back to the spot where the flip-flops had fallen and luckily all of them were rescued. However, Jame’s sunglasses slipped off his T-shirt and fell into the water, sinking quickly to the bottom. He quickly took off his t-shirt, got rid of his wallet and jumped into the water to rescue his sunglasses. But it was too late! The water was too cloudy due to the monsoon rains, so he couldn’t see anything. There was no point in diving deeper.
So what was the big deal? Well, just the cost of those Oakley sunglasses would have paid for one-third of the travel insurance for both of us. Let’s not even mention that James spent days looking for a model with polarized lenses and light frames that he liked.
Another unfortunate ending!
Now I ask you, what do you think James thinks about buying travel insurance now? “ALWAYS buy travel insurance!”
4 –Slippery getaway in Ko Lanta, Thailand
After a couple of months on the island of Langkawi, in Malaysia, we had to go to Thailand for a few days in order to extend our stay in the country.
To make a long story short, on the first morning of what was supposed to be a romantic getaway in the land of smiles, I had a “little incident” while taking a shower. I fell flat on the floor, with the right side of my face hitting the floor with full power. I cannot tell you the panic! I was sure to had broken my jaw, along with some teeth.
Luckily, after a whole morning with a big bag of ice on my face, I was only left with a massive headache and bit of nausea… but it could have been much worse!
Had I organized a travel insurance, I would have gone immediately to the hospital to take X-rays and check if everything was ok, instead of waiting for a couple of days until the pain and the fear were gone.
Do you see my point about why you should always buy travel insurance when travelling? You don’t necessarily need to be an adventure traveller (which I certainly am not!) to be prone to need insurance. Sometimes, adventure comes our way, in many different forms!
In sum, here are the 4 reasons why you should ALWAYS buy travel insurance
1. You can get sick while travelling;
2. You may lose stuff (or be robbed) while on the road;
3. Accidents do happen when you least expect;
4. You are not always in control of the situation.
Basically, sh*t happens!
All that being said, our suggestion to you is to always buy travel insurance, according to your needs.
James (who besides being my better-half is also my Internet Sherlock Holmes) has made a very thorough research and came to the conclusion that World Nomads offers the best option.
Find out here why James chose World Nomads travel insurance and while you are at it make a simulation here.
Don’t leave your safety to fate!
Happy travels!
“Be kind to yourself. Be kind to Mother Earth.”
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