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When faced with a $60,000 (to over $100,000 depending on where you are), $30 is a pittance.
Indeed. Assuming you are actually covered.
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We are insured to the hilt in every other aspect of our lives. Home, Auto, Health.
I personally would never travel internationally without it. If I can afford $1400 for a ticket, why not pay the extra .25% for evacuation insurance.
To each his own. I do not believe in being what I would consider to be over-insured.
I've never paid $1400 for an international plane ticket, either.
I'm not patting myself on the back about this. It's just how we use our money.
I shop carefully and do my research.
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If I paid for insurance on every trip I took internationally for my whole life and never had to use it I would consider myself extremely lucky.
Perhaps I am extremely lucky for *not* buying it when taking all those trips. ::shrugs::
We certainly are aware of what coverage we already have.
Nothing is more dangerous than trying to cash a $100 bill in a country who's annual per capita income is $300. Americans are considered "rich" around the world. No reason to impress your host country's citizens by displaying expensive jewelry and cash. Keep small denominations of money in various places, and leave the diamonds in a safe-deposit box at home.
Pack Mini bottle(s) of hand sanitizer and packs of small tissues. These are essential items when traveling to countries with squat toilets.
Sort through credit cards before leaving and only take the essential ones. Much easier to replace one or two credit cards if you wallet is stolen then the whole bunch.
When I go out of the country I always bring any over the counter drugs we may need. Tylenol, Benadryl, Cold Medicines, Pepto Bismol, Tums, whatever. I've been sick on cruises and all I could get was crummy generic stuff. My husband loves when I have whatever he may unexpetedly need!
What a fabulous idea a moneybelt is!
When I travel, I pack into my moneybelt my passport, driver license, credit card(s), medical insurance cards, tickets or enumber printout, photocopies of Rx's, photocopy of the one most important page of my travel insurance doc, list of all emergency phone numbers I might need and their country codes (including doctors, credit card companies, etc.), and some currency.
Using a moneybelt means there's zero chance of having my really important stuff lost, stolen or pickpocketed.
I thought I'd feel uncomfortable with a moneybelt. Ha! In 5 minutes I was used to living with all that good stuff safely on my tummy inside my clothes.
POCKETS
I go everywhere wearing slacks with two pockets, so that whatever I don't want someone to take from me -- from keys to credit card to driver license -- is always on ME not in a handbag that can be ripped away.
If you are going someplace where cash may be the only money accepted, be sure to take new (or new-looking bills.) In many countries, they will not accept money that has any marks on it. I have no clue why, but they don't. I actually ironed the money we took to Russia to pay for our homestay with a Russian family.
And that brings me to another topic: if you are at all adventurous, consider looking into a homestay with a local family. You will have an insider's view of what it's like in that country and, if you're lucky, personal guides to take you places that only a local would truly know about. We did this on our adoptions from Russia and feel extremely grateful to have stayed with two wonderful families (both apartments were near Red Square and cost of less than half of what a hotel in the same area cost.) Our host gave us tours all over Moscow and into museums. It does take a somewhat adventurous spirit, though. You'll be eating food you may not have chosen and sleeping in accomodations that aren't exactly the Hilton, but to us, it was completely worth it.
Don't go off to Las Vegas with a girl you've just met on the Greyhound bus... On second thought, maybe if I had, I'd have a REALLY interesting story to relate here...
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