Backpacker Travel Insurance: my experience

Backpacking in China

Backpacker travel insurance, what a boring subject… I’ll try to be brief as my preferred topic of writting are backpacking adventures!

NOTE: This blog contains affiliate links to pages selling products and/or services, I may get a small commission if you make a purchase through these links at no extra cost for you. There’s no sponsored content on this blog.

I have never been a fan planning/organising too much on my trips, and backpacking travel insurance is one of those this that you should plan.

In many trips I neglected getting travel insurance mainly because whether I’m very lucky, I take care of myself or I simply forgot, I never needed to make a claim.

However, in some occasions, I’ve had some cover contracted. As they say, it’s better to have it and not use it than to need it and not have it as it can result on a pretty hefty medical bill.

Nowadays there are plenty of backpacker travel insurance providers out there and it takes less than 2 minutes to compare quotes online.

Once you start checking the quotes the first thing you’ll notice is the defaqto score, this is just a star rating to indicate how many things your insurance cover will take care of in case of accident.

In my backpacking adventures I have had so far contracted policies with two providers, which, if you search a bit online they have the best reviews and the prices are reasonable considering what they cover.

They both also specialise in the sort of adventure tourism that I do 🙂

When I decided to travel for a long time, it’s only obvious that the chances of an accident are higher so I looked deeper into the subject.

After doing my homework, my current backpacker travel insurance cover for my Year of Adventures is with TrueTraveller.

Why I got my backpacker travel insurance with TrueTraveller

Quite a few reasons. Most importantly, they cover trips without a return ticket back home and you can also get a policy once you started traveling (as I did).

They offer different packages depending on the sort of stuff you aim to do, so it’s tailored to a range of activities that other companies will not cover as they may be considered “risky”.

They also cover working environments which is great if you’re planning to do some Workaways.

Backpacking in Tonsai Beach

I don’t like to be “selling” any services. But you can find more info on their website and decide for yourself.

So far I have not made any claims but they were pretty quick in replying a few questions before and after I got the travel insurance cover. I hope never to have to use their services 🙂

The other company that I have used in the past is World Nomads.

If you read many travel blogs, you will see their widgets present in almost all of them (mine included).

They have good prices and also cover many activities. However, I found a couple of restrictions when I was looking for insurance on my long term trip.

When I used them in the past (to go to Cambodia, Laos and Morocco) I got pretty good prices and once again, I’m happy to say that I didn’t need to use their services.

Should you take backpacker travel insurance?

Of course that’s completely up to you.

I have avoided doing it in many short trips but tried to take it in longer ones or in countries that could be a bit risky, just to have your holiday (and possibly your life) ruined by a mosquito is something that shouldn’t be worth considering of spending a few bucks.

If additionally the backpacker travel insurance covers activities such as trekking, scuba diving, skiing, etc. Then even better as you never know when something could happen, even to the most experienced adventurers!

Scuba Diving Koh Lipe

Ultimately it’s up to you to decide, this post is not about recommending one or another but just mentioning briefly what I have done in this subject.

That’s why I prefer not to copy/paste content these companies provide (you will notice the same content over and over in hundreds of blogs) as it’s your responsibility to do a bit of homework and read the small print for them and decide which one will suit your needs better.

For example, if you go to SE Asia, it’s very common to rent scooters and most (really nasty) accidents happen while riding one, make sure your backpacker travel insurance covers them.

Please note: there are affiliate links on this post, which means that if you purchase any cover with these companies I may receive a small commission at no extra charge for you at all, but what I write here (and all over my blog) is based on my personal experiences.

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2 thoughts on “Backpacker Travel Insurance: my experience

  1. Hello, I wanted to ask you a bit more about the insurance you used. I compare World Nomads and True Traveller and price wise there’s a huge gap. I am planning to go to 9 countries in SE Asia in 3 months and a half and True Traveller seems really cheap compared to World Nomads. Did you also felt that? It says its around 200 pounds per person while in World Nomads is 700 pounds :/

    1. Hi Saskia!
      Yeah I also got a massive difference when I got my cover for my year-long trip, I also got it with them because I didn’t have a return flight and was already abroad which is something most insurers don’t accept. So far I didn’t have to make a claim with TrueTraveller (neither with World Nomads when I used them in the past) so I can’t comment on their services yet, and I hope I never have to! 🙂

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