While I have never had one of those terrible experiences of seriously injuring myself or anyone I am travelling with I am also a big fan of travel insurance and make a contentious effort to ensure that I always have travel insurance for any backpacking holiday I take.
While being expensive it provides peace of mind because quite simply you never know what is going to happen. Everyone likes to think that they are 10ft tall and bullet proof (myself included) however when doing a backpacking holiday and isolated, its not the best time to be proven wrong. Everyone knows of that person who had an accident, got sick or lost their luggage, unfortunately it’s a fact of travel.
There are a few pit falls and things to know that will ensure you get value for money and good quality travel insurance.
First of all: Cheap travel insurance, it’s a misconception; travel insurance is an expensive part of any holiday, however if something does go wrong it will suddenly become ‘cheap travel insurance’.
Ensure that your travel policy covers the basics for travel aboard, this includes:
- cancellation and interruption of your travel - lost of your luggage and theft - medical expenses - repatriation
I prefer to use a travel agent when booking travel insurance because I like the idea of face to face contact and point of return, especially if there are issues while on holiday. While the internet offers the concept of cheap travel insurance it does this because there is no personal help when it’s required. I speak from personal experience here because I did purchase cheap travel insurance off the internet for my trip to Europe. After landing in San Francisco for a 3hour stop over I was informed my bags had been lost. Felling powerless and unable to do anything continued to Frankfurt where I was told ‘your bags have been found and are on there way here’. Problem was I then caught another connecting flight to Rome, Italy. Subsequently I spent 3days (in the middle of winter) in Rome wearing shorts and jandles freezing cold before my bags arrived. When my bags finally appeared, a number of items had been damaged including my expensive sunglasses. My cheap travel insurance, purchased off the internet became rather expensive because I am still battling with the company over the claim and struggle to contact a person. Hence my belief that working with a travel agent is beneficial.
Backpacking guides, I can’t say enough about backpacking guides, they are a real wealth of information, this includes what is required to get you to the beginning of your backpacking holiday and home safely. Refer to these guides and take them with you when travelling, don’t forget you’re not the first to do such a holiday so learn from other peoples mistakes, read blog sites and websites like this, while I am not an expert but I have made plenty of mistakes that don’t need to be repeated.
Final point would have to be: When booking travel insurance ensure that you will be covered for the type of holiday you’re planning. If you’re going skiing in Europe make sure that adventure sports are part of your travel insurance package. Sometimes this is how insurance companies can create the perception of cheap travel insurance -by removing parts of the policy. Please note, that illegal behaviour, war and acts of terrorism are not covered in a standard travel policy, so if you’re planning a trip to a place like Afghanistan or even Israel make sure you consult a travel agent before purchasing a policy. I know that some standard travel policies don’t cover all aspects of a backpacking holiday either so be sure to get the details from a travel agent before purchasing a policy that is not suitable.
I hope that this will help you weigh up the benefits and costs of travel insurance and enable you to make a more informed decision, I know a long term backpacking holiday is defiantly not the time for stress and worry so if something does go wrong the peace of mind knowing that your travel insurance will cover the cost is comforting.
