Yes! 100% yes to travel insurance.
“I arrived at the port and I saw ambulances, people with burns on their bodies, people crying. The engine of the same boat that I had used to come from Bali to Lombok had exploded halfway through the journey! ‘It’s a miracle that no one died’ someone said. I went to the ticket office and it was chaos, some people had missed the flights that would take them from Lombok to other islands, others had gone to hospital. The manager of the agency said he wouldn’t pay anything to anyone: ‘These things happen’, he said, ‘It isn’t my fault’.”
This incident happened on my big trip, and fortunately I wasn’t on the boat that time. I had started the trip with insurance, but it expired and I thought that I shouldn’t spend any more money on insurance. But the same day the boat exploded, as soon as I arrived at my accommodation I renewed it for the next few months.
Just as I thought at the time, many people still believe that travel insurance is a waste of money, but that is simply not true. I am very happy when nothing happens on the road, meaning that I never need to use it; in fact I do not even remember I have it. But the moment something does happen it can be our best friend.
For example, for a two-week trip to Indonesia or the United States, Iati Seguros* (an insurance company with very quick and friendly personalized service, in English), offers variable insurance packages between 47€ (basic package) and 97€ (premium star package). That amount of money in the United States, or in any other western country, does not even cover a doctor’s appointment.
A weekend of 3 nights in any European city is between 9€ (basic package) and 36€ (premium star package). You may well say that in Europe we have the European Health Insurance Card, which is true and I advise you to always have it with you, but Iati’s insurance also covers, among other things, transporting a relative if you need to be hospitalized for a significant period, your return home in case of the hospitalization or death of a relative, theft of or damage to luggage, etc.
In other words, insurance is always important, even when we think it is only a few days in the safest place in the world, in the end, it’s even better if you don’t use it!
* I give the example of Iati Insurance because it is the company that I use and trust. I would never recommend something that I did not trust, and for that reason I have created a partnership with Iati, by which acquiring insurance via any link from my blog will enable you to get a discount of 5%.
Have a good trip!
Picture: Lombok, Indonesia, June 2015
This as all the other articles on this site are translated by my good friend Devo Forbes!!