As someone who has spent many years travelling all over the world, my travel style is probably very different from most. Unlike many people who maybe take a one or two week vacation from work, I tend to take longer trips, finding a place to stay for a few months and using it as my base to explore other regions. I usually settle in a place where I know I can get cheap flights to other destinations, like Barcelona or Bangkok.
Unfortunately many travel insurers and policies only cover you for a maximum period of say one or two months, so this is definitely something you need to be careful of if you’re planning to go on a gap year or become a digital nomad like myself.
For me, I’ve found the travel insurer I like, and that is World Nomads. They definitely offer the best travel insurance for long trips and you’ll see why below:
The Best Travel Insurance for Long Term Travel
WorldNomads.com are pretty popular amongst travel bloggers, independent travellers, travellers looking for the best gap year travel insurance – even Lonely Planet – and for good reason. Their travel insurance is available to people from 140 countries, so no matter where you’re from, it’s likely that you’ll be able to get insurance with them.
Best of all, if you’re planning to go away on a long trip, you can cover the entire length of your trip – just set the start and end dates when you purchase your policy.
Sometimes it’s hard to know how long you might be away for. You might be having such a good time with your new travel buddies that you want to extend your trip a bit longer. The good thing is, World Nomads will actually let you extend your policy for the amount of time you choose, as long as your policy hasn’t expired already.
But what if I’m already travelling and I forgot to get insurance?
If you’re already abroad and you realised – “Hang on, I thought travel insurance was just a waste of time, but maybe I do need it?”
Don’t worry.
You can buy and claim online, even after you’ve left home. So even if you’re already deep in the middle of the Amazon or sunning yourself on a beach in Mexico, as long as you can get on the Internet, you can still buy an insurance policy from them. Not many insurers will let you do this – most specify that you need to be in your home country when you purchase your policy.
I actually went away once and forgot to get travel insurance. I was in a panic, but that’s when I discovered World Nomads and I’ve been with them ever since.
If anything goes wrong on your trip, you can make a claim before you even arrive home, which is great if you’re planning to be away for a long period of time. Otherwise you might be waiting months and months before you see any money back from your travel insurance.
Cover for adventure sports
When planning a long trip it’s likely that you’ll be doing some pretty risky and adventurous activities, so it’s always important to check what is and isn’t covered. The World Nomads cover is designed for adventurous travellers with cover for overseas medical, evacuation, baggage and a range of adventure sports and activities. From skiing & snowboarding in New Zealand to whitewater rafting in Colorado, they cover all sorts of activities to give you peace of mind that you can get the most from your travels.
Seriously, they have one of the longest lists of covered activities, including things like snorkelling, zip lining and bungee jumping covered as standard. There are other activities on the list that I barely even knew existed.
With the Explorer cover they even cover some more extreme activities, like wingsuit flying, bull riding, cliff diving and rodeo horse riding! Since I’ve now hit my 30s and the grey hairs are appearing I’d rather just watch from the sidelines with a beer in hand, but it’s good to know these activities are there.
Cover for expensive items
On a long trip abroad It’s likely that you’ll be travelling with expensive gear such as iPhones, laptops and cameras. I myself travel with a Canon Eos M6 camera, my MacBook Air, my iPhone 7 Plus and a ton of other techie equipment. Sadly many policies only cover items up to a value of a couple of hundred dollars, so if you lose any of your expensive stuff, you’re not going to be able to claim for it.
What’s awesome with World Nomads is you can specify high value items in your policy, so you’ll be covered for them while you’re away. (Admittedly this option is only available for people from certain countries, so check when you buy).
Other cool features of World Nomads travel insurance
As a WorldNomads.com member you have access to up-to-date travel safety alerts, as well as safety advice and tips through the World Nomads Travel Safety Hub.
You can also learn the local lingo through a series of iPod & iPhone Language Guides and can stay in touch with family and friends with an online travel journal.
Do I really need travel insurance?
Yeah you do. Eventually if you’re going away on a long trip then things do happen. You might have a scooter accident in Bali or have your camera stolen in Monaco (both sad but true stories). Accidents do happen, and if they do, you’ll want to be sure you have full medical cover when you’re away from home.
I’ve had a great experience with WorldNomads.com and they’re also backed by a suite of strong, secure, specialist travel insurers so you know you’re properly covered. It’s annoying to have to pay for something that you can’t see or get enjoyment out of, but it gives you peace of mind knowing you can relax and have fun without having to worry.