There are a lot of things that can go wrong in the world, but there are a lot that go wrong at home too. Even staying on the couch is dangerous so you may as well have something to remember from all these risks!

Is travel insurance worth it?

I say yes, and you can find out how much it costs and covers for your situation.

Bags and cameras and things are replaceable, and the cost is predictable. Your health is not, and the cost is a lot more uncertain.

In a lot of countries, basic medical services are cheaper than at home for things like a sprained ankle or rabies shots. Most travellers can afford them. But there are a few catastrophically expensive things that could go wrong, particularly when doing adventurous activities or in remote areas.

Hospital care for major issues, helicopter transport, or an evac flight back to your home country can cost $100,000 or more. Insurance is pretty good value compared to that!

Which is the best insurance company?

It’s surprisingly hard to find insurance that covers the fun stuff! I compared 30 companies and ruled out almost all of them because I needed:

• high elevation travel (above 3,000 metres or 10,000 feet)
• volunteering and paid work
• cycling as a mode of transport
• being able to visit home and continue travelling
• starting and renewing from overseas

I found that the best option was World Nomads - check out their cover here. They were the only one that actually delivered on all these things.

Making a claim needs to actually work too

Finding what looks like the best deal is one thing but they need to actually pay out when you need it!

I’ve been using World Nomads for my three years on the road, cycling, hitchhiking, trekking, horse riding and motorbiking through 50 countries. Fortunately I’ve had no major issues, but they paid out quickly for both medical and equipment the two times I did need them.

I tried out the medical cover after I went swimming on a tropical island with palm trees, golden sand and blue skies off Hong Kong. It turns out that was a bad idea, and $150 later my sore ear was sorted out at a nice hospital. Insurance covered that with no issues.

And they reimbursed my Samsung $300 phone screen replacement after it hit the road on the Ho Chi Minh Highway - don’t trust a phone holder on a motorbike!

To keep me going to the Samsung repair centre in Hanoi, I got a cheap spare phone in Khe Sanh from this dude with a claw on a gold chain round his neck.

Covering equipment and bicycles

Unfortunately a bicycle itself is almost never covered, which is a bit strange because they’ll cover your expensive camera and phone and hard drive and trekking gear and everything else. But I’m more concerned about me than my equipment anyway. My bike insurance is a 2 kilogram steel U lock.

Is cage fighting covered?

No, unfortunately cage fighting, car racing, free solo climbing, bareback horse riding and climbing Everest are considered “high risk” for some reason. There’s a list of these things in the policy wording… a different kind of bucket list.

There are often medium risk activities though that you can get covered with an add-on, like open water kayaking, trekking in the Himalayas, paragliding, and biking round the world!

Sometimes it’s compulsory for visas

Many countries won’t actually give you a visa without proof of travel insurance - including Russia, Iran, China and Germany in my experience.

Options for Brits

If you’re a UK citizen you have a few more choices, and Tom’s Bike Trip has a good article on these. He reckons Insure and Go is number one and Adventures Insurance is the second, both of which are UK-only.

His top option for the rest of us is World Nomads.

Get out there and do it

A bit of risk is worth it!