What if something happened to you while you were traveling in a foreign country? What if you needed medical care? What would you do?
Would your medical insurance cover you? Most likely not. Most health insurance from the US does not provide coverage outside of the continental US. Or, they may say they do, but have you ever tried to find a network provider for your plan in Timbuktu? It’s very likely there isn’t one.
So, if you have an illness or injury, are you prepared to cover the cost out of your pocket? As in up front, in order to get treated? What if you were in a bus accident, rendered a little loopy from a head injury, in a country that may not have many English speakers? Would you be able to make the necessary arrangements to get your injury paid for in advance and treated?
Since our domestic insurance doesn’t work in foreign countries, most hospitals would require you pay for your treatment in full, sometimes before they will even give you so much as an aspirin. Most of them will require cash, a few will take credit cards. But considering how quickly medical costs can add up, do you really carry enough cash on vacation or have enough available credit on your Mastercard to cover a sizeable claim?
Then, when you do get home, do you really have the time to wait to “maybe” get reimbursed by your insurance only to find out it all applies as non-network benefits, meaning reduced reimbursement? Of course, hopefully you remembered to ask for an itemized bill translated into English when you paid your claim or that could add more time to your reimbursement.
This is where travel insurance could be one of the best decisions you may ever make. Most policies can:
- provide help for you to find quality care, anywhere in the world
- cover your treatment costs–most begin payment after you pay the deductible
- help transport you (and even family members) home as soon as you are stabilized
Some policies even build in some non-medical benefits such as:
- assistance recovering stolen passports or other documents
- help coordinating emergency funds transfers
- legal referrals
- coverage for lost or delayed baggage
- even reimbursement for trip cancellation or interruption
While I don’t usually consider the non-medical benefits when purchasing trip insurance(I want it to cover the big ticket items and get me home in an emergency) it is nice to know that the non-medical perks are there.
Most policies can be purchased for the price of a tank of gas for your car. When pricing policies, here are the ones I like:
ALLIANZ–plan came in the priciest, but it was for the Premier plan which also includes trip cancellation and trip interruption. They have a pretty rich travel plan that recently priced a $1,000,000 policy at $130 for a 1 week trip to Mexico.
GEOBLUE–a subsidiary of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. They offer various coverages such as vacation, long-term multi-trip, and expatriation. They do require that you also already have a primary health plan, but it does not need to be an Anthem plan. Their coverage was also for $1,000,000 in medical for $25 for the same 1 week trip to Mexico.
WORLD NOMADS–their plan came in a little higher for the same Mexico vacation at $69 for a $100,000 plan. However, WORLD NOMADS also offers the flexibility of extending your coverage while you’re already using it.
You enroll for any of these plans easily online, choosing your deductible and amount of coverage. All of these carriers also have an option for long-term coverage, up to 90 days continuous, that can run through a full year at a time.
Considering the costs of a serious, high-dollar claim, these premiums add value. Even if you never use the insurance while abroad, you’ve still purchased some valuable peace of mind.
As the week proceeded, I sampled a lot of soup. Despite the warm weather, that first bowl had won me over and started a quest for my favorite. First up, was lunch the next day, which was a Chicken and Vegetable. This was a basic take on Chicken Noodle soup without any noodles. I was amazed at how flavorful the broth was.
Later that evening, which was Valentine’s Day, we went to Portofino, the Italian restaurant. Just when I thought I had been eating some pretty tasty soups, they really impressed me with a Cream of Asparagus soup. It was off the chain and even came with a small, crunchy breadstick as garnish.
Oddly enough, the next night’s dinner was a Mexican BBQ in the courtyard of the pool area. This was also the location of my least favorite soup selection, which was a Chicken Tortilla soup. Granted, I didn’t add the tortilla garnish or cheese to the soup, which may have been what was needed, but this soup just wasn’t hitting the mark for me. It was ok, but not “knock my socks off” good.
Basically, I was completely taken off guard by the quality of the soups at 
Recently, I came across a news report that says Americans are not using their vacation time. 42% take no vacation time off at all, and a large number leave at least 5 days per year on the table. Furthermore, 46% of bosses take a pile of work on vacation with them. Why? Why would you leave vacation time behind or take a pile of work with you?
And I believe some of these reasons are even more valid than they appear. Where I live, winter means cold temperatures, shorter days (sometimes it’s already dark when I walk out of work), and sometimes blustery, snowy, icy days. These all can take a toll on the energy levels, so getting away to somewhere warm and sunny can really help alleviate that.
*How much time do I have to devote to my next trip? If I have a week or more, I’ll venture further from home and keep in mind that I’ll need to budget for more. If I only have a few days, I’ll stay closer to home and seek out non-stop flights so I don’t waste an entire day getting there.
*What is my budget? If I have a lot to spend on vacay, I’ll upgrade to a nicer resort (there’s definitely a difference between a Sandals and others). If I have a limited budget, I’ll stick to a less inclusive or seek out a non-inclusive resort, villa, or studio to stay in.
*Regardless of anything else, I will search for what’s on sale. In the past, this has landed me in a completely different country than I originally intended, but I can’t pass up saving money when it’s able to be saved. I like to use 
, 
to help me price trips.
*What activities do I want to participate in? Do I want an active, sightseeing trip? Do I want to do volunteer work while I’m there? Do I just want to veg by the pool and sip fruity cocktails? Activities will come into play when deciding on the where.
*Do I want to go somewhere warm or cold? Or is the location more important than climate? If there’s a particular place I have on my list to visit, climate won’t really matter to me. But, if my goal is a restful, relaxing trip, you’ll find me by the pool or scuba diving in a warm, most likely Caribbean locale.
*Who will I be going with? If it’s just me and hubby, we can easily determine where we are going. If others are going, or this will be a group trip, we’ll need to determine if they are bringing children, what their budget is, and what activities they would be interested in. Is it a girls weekend or family trip? That adds other needs to consider.
2. An Electronics Organizer to hold your chargers, ear buds, etc. without letting them get tangled up in your bag.
3. A Filtering Water Bottle that you can fill at the airport after going through security or for use in a country where the water may be questionable.
, 
, 
, and 
. But what else? Please drop me a comment and make credible suggestions about what an English family would consider a treat from their American amigos.
