Before Your Next Adventure… Protect It

When I bought my first car, I had to set up insurance before I could drive it off the lot. Since then, my husband and I have purchased many vehicles, and insurance was always in place before we pulled away.

Eventually, we bought our first house, and again, I made sure we had adequate coverage to protect our home and belongings. Yes, the bank required insurance before approving the loan, but it mattered to us, too.  We needed to know repairs would be covered if our vehicle was damaged or totaled, and that we could rebuild if our home ever caught fire.  Insurance gives us peace of mind knowing we won’t need to come up with money we might not have if disaster strikes. 

The same was true for health insurance. We made sure our family was covered so that if any of us got sick, needed surgery, or had an unexpected injury, we wouldn’t face financial disaster. Many families are just one hospital stay away from bankruptcy, and we didn’t want that to be ours.

But there was one area we never thought about: Travel Insurance!  

Honestly, it didn’t even cross our minds and to be completely honest, I didn’t know it existed.  While booking our first cruise I was offered the opportunity to add insurance protection, so I accepted it.  Same thing for the next cruise… and the next… and the next.  I had no idea what it covered, but it sounded like a good idea.    

The eye‑opening moment came when I was planning an international group trip for my daughter and me. Travel insurance was required, so I researched companies and chose one that came highly recommended by other travelers. I filled out the form, paid the premium, and received immediate confirmation.

Several weeks before the trip, I ended up in the emergency room with severe pain. The pain eventually subsided, and I was sent home without a firm diagnosis. Two days later, I was back in the ER with the same pain. Again, no real diagnosis, just a referral to a specialist.

The specialist strongly suspected gallbladder attacks but needed more testing. When I asked if I could still travel, she told me she couldn’t recommend it until we knew with 100% certainty what was causing the pain.

I left that appointment devastated. Not only could I not travel, but my daughter who was a minor at the time, couldn’t go either.

I canceled our trip and learned that none of the money I had paid toward the hotel or airline would be refunded. Thousands of dollars, gone. My next stop was the insurance company.

I began the claims process, gathered all required documentation, including a letter from the doctor stating I could not travel.  While there was some back and forth between me and the insurance company, once I had satisfied all their requirements, reimbursement for every dollar I had spent was direct deposited into my bank account. 

Three months after my first ER visit, I was in surgery having my gallbladder removed and the experience taught me some very valuable lessons.  We never know when a medical emergency might hit and change our lives in some way.  Canceling my trip was disappointing, but I wasn’t in another country where the expenses would have been so much higher.  Life can quickly shift and all the months of planning shift too.  My experience made me realize how important it is to have coverage in place.  While insurance won’t change interrupted or canceled travel plans, knowing that the financial end of these plans will be handled removes some of the worry about the financial aspects of these shifts. 

As we have continued to travel, we have had one other experience causing us to need travel insurance.  During one of our cruises our son began complaining about his ear hurting.  I was able to take him to see one of the ship’s doctors who diagnosed him with an ear infection and prescribed an antibiotic.  Within 24 hours he was feeling much better and other than missing out on time in the pool and at the splash pad on board, we could continue enjoying our cruise.  Cruise lines don’t provide free medical, but this is something covered by travel insurance. 

We’ve also witnessed other passengers being taken off ships on stretchers and loaded into the back of ambulances during cruises in other countries.  Each time I’ve found myself whispering, “I hope they will be okay.  I hope they have travel insurance” because the last thing anyone needs is the added stress of wondering how they might pay for all those additional costs – the cost of the ambulance transport, medical care, possible hotel costs for other family members and a flight back home – just to name a few.    And what about medical helicopter evacuations? Costs skyrocket!  Your health insurance at home is not going to cover those costs. 

Medical emergencies can happen anywhere. So can flight delays, weather disruptions, lost luggage, family emergencies, and countless other things you can’t control. All of these can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars out of pocket so having the right travel insurance is very important and should be part of your travel budget. 

As a family who travels multiple times a year, we now purchase an annual plan and add extra coverage for more expensive trips. It offers far more protection than standard cruise line insurance that I had been purchasing and covers us even on road trips out of state or just further away from home within state. 

As I talk to clients who are making their travel plans, one question that will most certainly come up is, “Do you have travel insurance?”  If not, I can help find a plan that fits specific needs of those I’m working with.  It could be coverage for a single trip or an annual policy that protects you all year long.   

Whether you book travel with me, another advisor, or on your own, please seriously consider adding travel insurance.  It’s one of the smartest decisions you can make.