Travelfish #363: Travel insurance and why you need it

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi everyone, This week we’re all about insurance and how it really can be an important thing to pack (along with your brain) when you travel. [An Akha village outside Mae Salong Photo: Mark Ord] An Akha village outside Mae Salong Photo: Mark Ord If you missed our last newsletter, we have a new [two week itinerary for North Sumatra]( though consider holding off visiting till the rains put the fires out—as it seems the government isn’t racing to. If you’re heading to Thailand for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand. [Sign up here](. Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Itinerary Insurance matters As regular readers will have noticed there was no newsletter last week. Saturday night a week ago, our daughter came down with acute appendicitis, was hospitalised here in Bali, and two days later emerged sans ruptured appendix. A bit like her appendix, the newsletter fell by the wayside. She’s recovered well and has her first day back at school today. Given an appendectomy is a pretty common surgical procedure (around 280,000 are performed annually in the US), we decided to have the operation here in Indonesia and thankfully the surgeon pulled it off without complication. Why am I telling you this? Well, the final bill for her treatment and surgery at a private hospital, including out-patient care afterwards came in just shy of 50,000,000 rupiah (roughly A$5,000 or US$3,500). Ouch. We have a family health insurance policy, but it is what we call apocalyptic care—with a high excess (US$5,000)—designed primarily for some catastrophic accident where air evacuation would be desirable. Short version? We had to foot the bill ourselves. Ho hum. When people think about travel insurance, situations like theft and loss are often paramount in their mind, but, well, you can always get a new camera. Your health on the other hand, can be considerably more complicated (and expensive) to maintain, or repair, when a trip goes sideways. If we’d been travelling outside of Indonesia when our daughter took ill, this is exactly the type of situation where our recommended travel insurer [World Nomads]( would be able to step in to assist. (Do read the small print, pre-existing conditions, and so on). This is why you need adequate insurance when you travel. It’s easy to think, “ahh what are the chances of me needing an appendectomy on my holidays, I’m in good health”, but it is exactly these unexpected situations that having insurance cover can be the safety net you need. I’ve written before about how during a trip to Australia, when we thought I was having a heart attack in Sydney (no, not as the result of the cost of a flat white), World Nomads stepped in to not just give me the peace of mind, but also to cover the cost, [which came to almost A$24,000](. If we hadn’t had travel insurance, the cost would have bankrupted us (and probably given me a real heart attack). Side note for keen-eyed readers, yes we’re Australian, but we’ve been out of the country so long we’re no longer covered by Medicare, so that wasn’t an option. Some wiser person than me (that would be any of you dear readers), might say “Well the best kind of travel insurance policy is the one you don’t need to use” and that’s 110% true. But, if you’re in the unfortunate situation where you do have to use it, you want one that puts you before all else, and that’s what we’ve always found to be the case with World Nomads. This isn’t to say there are not plenty of other excellent travel insurance companies, and I know the age restrictions with World Nomads cut out some older Travelfish readers, but my point is more, regardless of who you use, use someone. Or have the means to cover the costs in the unfortunate situation where you end up in hospital rather than lazing in the hammock. When you’re shopping around, do be sure to read the small print, exclusions and so on. Travel insurance doesn’t cover abject stupidity—[not wearing a helmet or having a motorbike license before riding one]( are two standout exclusions that come to mind. So pack your brain and your travel insurance and enjoy your trip! [Click here to get a quote from World Nomads?]( Note we are a partner with World Nomads, so if you buy a policy through one of the links above, we may earn a commission. Safe travels Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2019. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Ten things worth reading They were CIA-backed Chinese rebels. Now you’re invited to their once-secret hideaway. “By the early 1970s, according to a declassified CIA report, [Mae Salong was home to one of the “most important” heroin refineries in Asia]( Floods, mud: Sluggish progress a year after Indonesia disaster “In Sigi's valley just south of Palu city, flooding that hit three times [has destroyed 80 percent of homes]( drowning in mud any hope of rebuilding the already-crumbling village, the district's disaster agency chief, Asrul Repadjori, said.” Finding precious art amid Bali's commercial bustle “This is a culture so dynamic that within a single lifetime the creative impulse has renewed itself again and again, responding not only to dramatic changes in the domestic environment, [but also to the revolutionary stimulus of the outside world]( Tambun rock art: Archaeology as a public good “The project was [entirely crowdfunded]( in its two years, some 3,000 people participated in guided tours to the Gua Tambun rock art site, workshops, public talks and exhibitions.” Origins of the longest civil war in the world “In order to cut support from rural villagers for ethnic armies, the Burmese military began relocating, attacking and destroying villages, while [often torturing and killing anyone suspected of aiding the opposition groups](. Entire communities were forced to move to fenced-in areas subject to tight military control.” Violent protests in Papua leave at least 20 dead “A spokesman for the Papua military, Eko Daryanto, said [at least 16 civilians]( including 13 from other Indonesian provinces, were killed in Wamena, mostly after they were trapped in burning houses or shops. ” Vietnam’s ghosts are hungry for iPhones “Screen addiction is not the only [contemporary scourge affecting the afterlife]( Coal on the Javan coast “There is local opposition to the proposed plants, but it is fragmented: village leaders are often offered jobs in the coal plant so [opposition tends to come from those at the bottom of the village hierarchy]( such as poor fishermen and small-scale farmers. ” The volunteers fighting Indonesia's fires “Many of the fires are thought to be the result of plantation owners burning land for the new planting season - a practice that has blighted Southeast Asia for years but [is supposed to be outlawed](. ” Forget Seminyak: Why Canggu is the new cool kid on the Bali block “Yet until recently, Canggu was little more than dirt roads and rice fields with mostly-empty cafes and seafood shacks on the beach.” [This story LOL]( Something to read King Norodom's Head If you have any affection for the growing city of Phnom Penh — and nostalgia for its disappearing past — [you’ll love King Norodom’s Head: Phnom Penh Sights Beyond the Guidebooks](. Travel shot [Enjoy Mae Salong’s moody, misty outlook. Photo: Mark Ord] Enjoy Mae Salong’s moody, misty outlook. Photo: Mark Ord Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! If you're a Gmail user and would prefer your Travelfish newsletter in your Primary in-box rather than Promotions, just drag this email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, and click "yes" when it asks if you want to do that for all of our emails. Better still, [read this newsletter online.]( [Disclosure]( | [Privacy]( | [Unsubscribe]( We want travellers to love Southeast Asia as much as we do. 9 robinson close, hornsby heights, nsw 2077, AUSTRALIA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](