I confess that for a long time I thought that having travel insurance was useless, and the only reason I always had it was because of the insistence of my mother and because some visas are easier to get if you have it. And I really believed that, TILL I NEEDED. And it was a very crazy month where I had to use it a couple of times. And then my little friend, blessed the day my mother made me take the Travel Insurance.
The exu arrived in the first week in Laos, I caught a food poisoning so bad that I lost more than 5kg in a week. And in less than 3 weeks after, I, a focused person who I am, fell and hit my head very bad because, on a bumpy street, I was looking at the landscape instead of looking at the ground like any human being with a minimum of sense would be doing (I’m clearly not part of that category).
Then I had to thanks the insurance so so much! Not just for the value of it. I, as a poor traveler I am, I always buy the cheapest or the one with the best cost-benefit. And cost-benefit is the word here. Because my friend, when you’re dying (yes, I was dying, DYING!! And whoever calls me dramatic will get a punch in the face !!), the last thing you want to think is about money. And the support that World Nomads gave me was kind of sensational. And the value I pay them is kind of sensational too! Two in one!!
Look, the two times I needed them, I talked to them by WhatsApp! Man, look how practical! By WhatsApp!! And dude, they answer faster than my mom when she knows I did some shit! Which is quite constant, but that’s beside the point here!
Whatever! So, both times happen in different places but with one thing in common. I am a person without an itinerary, so I always end up in some cities that are after the end of the world, where the nearest medical center is like 60 km away with just one bus per day. Sometimes I think I’m the first foreigner to ever step on these places. It’s cool and I love it. But not that much when I needed a hospital.
When I had the accident, they sent a doctor to visit me and the guy arrived in less than 2 hours, 2 hours!!! The guy came by jet right?! Because, lover, I never took a bus or ride in that corner of the world that crossed 60 km in 2 hours, usually it takes 2 days! Dramaaaaaatic!!! And the miserable one arrived in 2 hours! Blessed he will be! He saved my life!
But the exu was still there, and the second time I needed the insurance was because of a food poisoning that it was from hell. Oh my Buddha, I did not want to wait 5 minutes for a doctor. I needed to stop… I needed a doctor. So I went to the “healer” in the city. Yes, not really a doctor, a healer! Now, my friend, come with me to this madness, the guy did not speak a word in English, and worse, he did not speak a word in Lao either. The guy was a Chinese who only speak Chinese, in Lao, where no one speaks Chinese !! Or English! Or Portuguese! Communication is an irrelevant detail.
But what the hell, making a food poisoning mimic is not very difficult, especially when it happens in live mode! 😂😂😂He understood me very quickly! So he made some blood tests, gave me the medicine, showed me the time to take them in the clock, and gave me the bill 😰😱!
Son of a thing! Loosing 5 kg is never easy, or cheap! 😂😂
But in fact this time it was, I just had to send an email to World Nomads, with the photos of what the doctor wrote (that only god knows what it was because it was in Chinese) that in less than 48 hours the money was back in my account! Look what a beautiful little thing they are! I drank a beer with the money in honor of them! But only after stopping …. putting the vital energy out!
But dude, Beer Lao, if you come to Laos you have to drink that one. It’s a damned good beer.
So, my dear friend, if you’re planning your next adventure or even if you’re already in the road. Get a Travel Insurance. You don’t want to need it, but if you do… you’ll want very bad to have it!
Contribute to the environment
- Take your trash
- Collect rubbish if possible
- ALWAYS PRESERVE THE NATURE