Nomad Travel Insurance: How we Protect Ourselves while Travelling

In today’s world, travelling as part of a job is becoming much more frequent. Take a travel agent, for example: they typically visit a few different countries a year. Or a banker who has headquarters internationally. Or a model who has jobs worldwide. We all become familiar with booking flights, hotels and tours but it’s things like travel insurance that slide under the radar. For us, nomad travel insurance has become such an essential part of our yearly organisation since we are at home less than we are travelling!

So many times we hear people asking “do you really need travel medical insurance? Nothing has ever gone wrong before”. And all we have to say to that is, “YES – it is in the country, time and place where you least expect something to happen that mishaps happen”.

Besides, nowadays travel insurance won’t set you back much. And as we always say, at the end of the day isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?!

What do you Want to be Covered for?

Typically thinking, the instances where you will require travel medical insurance in Antarctica will be completely different from what you will need in India. And the cost of medical treatment will be much higher in America than somewhere like Indonesia.

In general, however, travel medical insurance should cover:

• Emergency medical, surgical and hospital treatment due to illness or injury.
• Emergency medical evacuation in the case of unexpected events such as a natural disaster.
• Travel delays and lost checked luggage.

Which Nomad Travel Insurance Should you Use?

Choosing a Travel Insurance company can be difficult, particularly if you are visiting different countries and don’t have a home base. With the nomad lifestyle becoming a reality for more and more people, insurance companies have now made our lives easier.

Take SafetyWing for example, our choice when it comes to nomad travel insurance.

We use SafetyWing because;

• They are the world’s first International Travel Medical Insurance created by digital nomads for international travelers and fellow nomads.
• It is based on a monthly subscription, meaning we pay monthly instead of yearly (saving us money when we are not travelling).
• The COST – only $USD 37 per month when travelling worldwide other than in America. For travel in America it is $USD 68 per month.
• Wherever we are in the world, there is 24/7 support!

What does SafetyWing Cover?

Below is a list of what is and isn’t included in the cover:

• WORLDWIDE coverage (except for Cuba, Iran and North Korea).
• Health coverage for unexpected illness or injury; hospital stays; prescriptions; doctor consultations and emergency medical evacuation.
• Health coverage in your home country for 30 days every 90 days (or 15 days every 90 days if your home country is the US) as long as the medical expenses are incidental. This means the plan doesn’t cover you for regular doctor check-ups etc. or for an injury or illness that began while abroad. 
• Travel delays that are out of your control. This does not include missed flights.
• Lost checked-in baggage.
• Not covered: pre-existing conditions, routine check-ups and cancer treatment.

How Long will you be Covered?

If you’re a long-term traveler, with SafetyWing you are able to select your start date and the policy will cover you for a month. After the first month, your insurance will automatically extend until you decide to cancel it or for a whole year. After a year of insurance, it is possible to renew the cover for another year!

If you’re a short-term traveler with fixed trip dates, you can also take up the insurance the classic way for a specific duration, starting from 5 days.

Are there Other Options for Nomad Travel Insurance?

Of course there are other options! But for us SafetyWing is the best option as it is very well priced for what it covers. We also don’t have to worry about months that we are at home because we can cancel the subscription and re-start it when we head overseas again.

Check out their FAQ page for more information.

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