Everyone loves a good old vacation every now and then. But vacations are meant to break away from the monotony of life, right? We want our vacations to be those few days of unfiltered joy so we ensure that everything is properly arranged when we head out.

Most travellers spend a lot of time and effort planning a perfect vacation for themselves but what they generally tend to overlook is to check that insurance box. When we are investing so much in our vacations, we would not want any unexpected troubles to come up, right? Not meaning to scare you, but honestly, falling sick or misplacing items are something that can happen to anyone, anywhere – even when you are not travelling!

This is why a travel insurance is so handy because while you are travelling, problems like these usually spell extra expenses and those can be taken care of by the company. You may not incur any particular problem while travelling, but just in case you do, just imagine how much more easily you can deal with it! Honestly, I was like most travellers, not bothering about a travel insurance but having travelled long enough, I completely understand its importance and never head out for a vacation without one!

Let me tell you my story!

I never considered buying a travel insurance during my international travels because I always felt like I didn’t need one. There are ample reasons to back my claim but the most important one is that I mostly travel internationally on a sponsored trip, which means every little need is usually taken care of by the brand itself. Another reason is that I have never been out of the country for more than a week with brands and even if I do extend my trips, I have done it for a maximum of three days. It never occurred to me that even though my stay was a relatively short one, I may end up requiring an insurance sometime. “What can happen in such a short duration and especially when everything is taken care off?” my mind would always say.

It happened during my recent visit to Indonesia on an invitation from a brand. Everything had been arranged and taken care for 4 days by the brand, but I felt it was too short a time to explore this pretty place so I decided to extend my vacation. On finding out about my new plan, my friends insisted that I get myself a travel insurance as around that time, an emergency was declared in Bali due to a volcanic eruption. Unfortunately, it was too late to get an insurance but I made up my mind to get one as soon as I landed back in India. I, however, sat down to look for the available insurances in the market to understand how they could help me.

Since I keep visiting the SE Asian countries, I started looking for SE Asia specific insurances. Yes, destination specific insurances are available nowadays and my friends advised on it, telling me about how most of them have region-specific benefits. After some research, I quickly finalized on the Asia Travel Insurance from Reliance General which turned out to be really economical. And it had a wide range of benefits, such as:

• Covering expenses for accidents, sudden illnesses, evacuations,
• Coverage for passport and baggage losses,
• Coverage for flight misses in case of delays or unexpected cancellations, and quite a few more.

Luckily, nothing went wrong but, truthfully, I could not wait to get back and purchase the insurance – thanks to what I witnessed during one day in the course of the trip. I had just left my hotel and was exploring around a little when I encountered a woman looking quite lost. On inquiring I found out that all her luggage had been stolen at one of the bus stations which comprised of everything from personal belonging to money to her documents. It’s a scary situation to run into and to top it all, did not have any insurance either.

I almost thanked my stars that nothing like that had happened to me but it almost made my insurance an essential part of every single vacations – even the domestic ones.

Don’t Be Like That Woman! Your Travel Insurance Can Be Really Handy!

Misfortunes or incidents are avoidable but they are not uncommon, especially in a foreign place. Although a travel insurance doesn’t help you to avoid it but they come with a bunch of benefits, the most important of which is covering for most of your unforeseen expenses.

Financial Recovery: Monetary compensation is probably the best reason why you should consider getting yourself a travel insurance. Medical treatments are pretty expensive in foreign locations, especially SE Asian countries. With a travel insurance, we can get reimbursed for our medical expenses across a wide range of scenarios. A Few of them also cover medical evacuation, which means that we do not have to pay for any medical emergency transportation expenses with their own money.

Lost baggage: One of the most common inconveniences during an international trip is having your baggage lost or misrouted. Travel protection can be purchased for this, too. Most policies cover personal belongings that are lost, stolen or damaged while on vacation due to irresponsible carriers or theft.

Trip cancellation: Another benefit insurances provide is the protection against unexpected circumstances where you have to cancel the trip. These policies ensure that they get compensation for losses that result from interruptions like these.

Before You Buy A Travel Insurance, Check These Out!

• Check if the seller is licensed by the state where he is located. You need to be sure that the seller is financially sound and will be able to pay the claims.
• Verify the coverage for traveling companions and family members which can depend on various factors.
• If you are going for an adventurous vacation, please evaluate and cross check if your travel policy covers the activity you are planning to experience.
• Check how soon you can avail help or any kind of services from the insurance company, in case of a mishap.

It doesn’t matter if you are booking a weekend get-away, an all-inclusive week-long vacation or a month long backpacking trip—whenever you are planning or booking a trip, please do consider keeping yourself safe and secure by getting insured.

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