One of the questions I am most frequently asked when talking about my unconventional lifestyle is health insurance. If you’re lucky enough to live in a country with universal healthcare, then this isn’t an issue for you, but with the Affordable Care Act in America, insurance is available to any individual regardless of employment. I use that as my primary care, but it only covers me inside the state of Oregon.

Since I spend most of my life outside of Oregon, I always carry travelers insurance. The benefit for me is that it covers you anytime you’re 100 miles from your home, so for me that includes Seattle and San Francisco, in addition to all my destinations abroad. I recently switched to Allianz as they provide the most robust coverage on the market.

Standout service

• 24/7 live assistance and concierge—provide you with expert help in emergencies, plus non-emergency support for travel hiccups
• Winner of multiple industry awards—including Stevie, Travvy, Travel Weekly Readers Choice, ITIJ, WAVE, and Magellan awards, to name a few
• No call center outsourcing means better quality control—so you can be sure your assistance team is well-trained and always ready to help
• Recognized for speed in claims processing—as Christopher Elliott for Forbes.com put it, “Allianz offers policies with generous coverage at fair prices. One of its secret weapons is speed—it handles claims lightning fast.” (March, 2019)
• Voice of the Customer program elevates your overall experience—with a rigorous feedback review program ensuring continuous improvement, you can count on an excellent experience throughout your journey

Robust Protection For Domestic and International Travel

• A dedicated, third-party insurer—which typically offers benefits and value superior to supplier insurance
• Expansive medical network—with a presence across the globe, including a worldwide database of over 800,000 vetted medical providers
• Primary medical benefits that apply just 100 miles from home—including out-of-network benefits that can help you avoid deductibles and copays
• Proactive SmartBenefits^SM—can pay you for your covered delays automatically, without lifting a finger*
• TravelSmart^TM app—offers several travel safety features and helps you easily file claims on the go

For those of you joining me for one of my trips, consider carrying travelers insurance if your medical or dental insurance company doesn’t offer coverage when you’re outside of the US. Additionally, travelers insurance covers things that aren’t covered by your medical or dental policy like:

• Lost or stolen property, credit cards, or passports
• Trip cancellation (including pet emergencies)
• Baggage delays
• Medical repatriation
• Death overseas
• Terrorist attacks
• Assault

Whether you’re joining on one of my trips or traveling on your own, I recommend getting travelers insurance for the small cost but great piece of mind. I know my father, who follows these posts and worries about some of my foreign travel will be pleased to know that, at least in this way, I do travel responsibility.

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