Did you know there are hostels to fit every type of travel? We were surprised too, but we found that some hostel sites define different types of hostels – luxury, romantic, family, etc.  –  and tag them by activity  – ski, party, beach. You can even find designations for the structure in which the hostel is lodged: prisons, haunted houses, ryokans, and more.

Many people believe that hostel travel is only done by the young, single backpacker on a budget, but these days there are hostels to fit nearly every type of traveler. Most hostel travelers are watching their budgets, but they also enjoy the experience of staying in a hostel for a range of reasons. Some hostels give you a lively social scene, for example, and the opportunity to make friends. Not all hostels are like big, open dorm rooms either – many have separate rooms for 1, 2, 3, or more travelers who want a little more privacy.

Of course any trip comes with risks and limiting your exposure to travel risks is what travel insurance is all about. We looked into what hostel travelers should know about insuring their hostel trips and came up with the following tips.

1. No traveler expects to have to cancel

It’s important to understand the range of reasons that could cause you to cancel your trip and some may surprise you:

• You’re in a traffic accident just days before your trip and not recovered enough to travel

• A family member is diagnosed with cancer, and you want to help with their care (you can travel once the cancer is gone)

• You’re unexpectedly offered the job-of-a-lifetime, but you have to start tomorrow

• Your best friend commits suicide and you just can’t stand the thought of leaving right now

Most of the time the reason a traveler has to cancel any trip is completely unexpected. It’s a surprise entirely out of the blue; something you’d never predict happening. Of course, that’s the intent behind insurance. After all, no homeowner expects to see their house burn down in a wildfire, but these things happen.

If you are taking a trip and you’ve spent money on that trip that you cannot afford – or would prefer not – to lose, then insuring that trip against cancellation is a wise idea. When you insure a trip for cancellation, you are insuring the pre-paid costs that are non-refundable. Anything you pay for before you leave – hostel reservations, airline tickets, train tickets, etc. – is a pre-paid trip expense. Some of those expenses are refundable in certain circumstances, but many are not. After all, they want their money too and cancellation policies are written to protect the one who has your cash.

2. Getting home fast can be difficult and expensive

Just like covering your trip for cancellations, it’s important to have a plan for how to get home should you be called home in a hurry. No one expects that their little sister will be in a tragic accident on her way to school, after all, but if you’re traveling wouldn’t you cancel your trip and head home to be with her and your family if they needed you?

Last-minute flights are expensive, especially if you already paid for your return trip ticket. The airlines are a lot less forgiving than they used to be about flight changes – even for emergencies. In some cases, the cost of changing a flight can be worth the price of a new ticket.

Travel insurance plans include trip interruption coverage, which is designed to get a traveler home in a hurry, and 24/7 traveler support for emergencies.

Trip interruption coverage reimburses the traveler for unexpected, and often expensive, travel costs like last-minute airfare, lodging, taxis and more. It can even reimburse a traveler for the portion of their trip they didn’t get to use because of the interruption – so you can travel again once the emergency is handled.

Travel assistance services can help a traveler arrange last-minute travel home.

3. Emergency medical care is always expensive

The cost of medical care is expensive no matter where you travel and when you travel outside your home country, your health insurance plan (if you have one) doesn’t usually cover your medical costs overseas.

Young people – especially active young people – have medical emergencies and if you’re traveling in a foreign country you may be required to pay for your medical care up-front. Unless you’re willing to put your credit card on the line to pay for x-rays, surgery, bandages, medicines, a doctor’s time, and more, you should have travel medical coverage.

Luckily, travel medical coverage is very affordable and even more so for young travelers. It’s almost a no-brainer when it comes to traveling outside the country where a foreign government is simply not responsible for taking care of your medical needs.

4. Baggage gets pilfered

No one is completely safe from thieves no matter where you go, but travelers can minimize their exposure to risk by leaving the valuables at home, carrying limited amounts of cash, using a money belt, and more.

Many hostels also provide lockers that travelers can use to protect their belongings and hostel travelers know to bring their own locks. A little research in advance will let you know if you will have lockers available.

Coverage for lost, stolen, or delayed bags with a travel insurance plan can help the hostel traveler in several ways:

• If your bag is temporarily delayed, you can get a fresh change of clothes and some basic personal items to get you through until your bag arrives.

• If your bag is irretrievably lost or stolen, you can be reimbursed for the clothing, personal items, etc. you have to buy to get through your trip (including a bag to take it all home).

There are a number of limits to baggage coverage, including a minimum number of hours before the delay coverage kicks in, and more. Click the links above for a better understanding of baggage coverage with your travel insurance plan.

What’s the Cost to Insure this Hostel Trip?

Let’s take a look at a hostel trip and what you might need to insure on this trip.

Let’s say a group of four college friends will be traveling for two weeks in Amsterdam. They are coming from all over the country and haven’t seen each other since graduation.

• Tom – Los Angeles is spending $1,149 for airfare

• Steve – Seattle is spending $1,166 for airfare

• Owen – Newport is spending $992 for airfare

• Matt – Dallas is spending $936 in airfare

They settled on staying at a downtown hostel because it’s in a great walkable location with lots of nightlife, museums, and cafes nearby – ideal for younger travelers who don’t want to rent a car.

To save money, they chose to reserve their rooms as non-refundable. They reserved a 4 bed suite to share at just $245 or $61.25 each. Each traveler will want to insure their pre-paid trip costs – their airfare + their portion of the hostel cost.

Each traveler also has individual concerns for this trip:

• Avid cyclists, Tom and Matt are taking along their road bikes and plan to ride each day.

• Steve and Own are self-employed and each is taking a laptop to keep tabs on work.

Tom and Matt will want a plan that includes baggage coverage for their bicycles in case they are stolen or lost along the trip. Baggage coverage with most travel insurance plans includes coverage for bicycles, but the total coverage for any one stolen item is not high. So they may want to choose a plan with a higher limit for baggage coverage. Riding your bike on streets is not considered a hazardous sport by the travel insurance companies, and so they don’t need adventure coverage.

Owen and Matt should understand that there is limited coverage for electronics with any travel insurance plan. They can talk with their homeowner’s policy and cover the electronics that way, but otherwise they should plan to carry them onto the plane and keep them locked in the hostel safe or in private lockers when not in use.

See our techniques for keeping valuable safe while traveling for more ideas.

Here are Tom’s trip details plugged into our travel insurance comparison tool:

Tom chooses plans with a little higher per-item limit (at least $1,000) on the baggage coverage for his bike:

This image shows just a couple of plans to give you an idea of the cost, which you can see is very affordable for benefits like 100% trip cancellation, 150% trip interruption, $25,000 – $50,000 in emergency medical (in case he falls on a ride), and more.

The term green travel conjures many different images for travelers – sleeping in a hammock slung between two trees at a public beach, for example. For most travelers, however there are various shades of green travel that involve a range of actions that are far easier to implement.

At the heart of the matter is the universal view of the importance of protecting the natural and cultural environments of places you’re visiting. That means implementing habits that preserve the plants, wildlife, and other resources in their most natural state and respecting the local culture while contributing positively to local communities.

Many travelers believe that taking a green approach to travel makes for a more rewarding and authentic travel experience. It encourages travelers to create deeper connections with the people they meet and the places they visit.

Just like back home, you can take going green about as far as you’re comfortable. Many travelers implement simple ways to green-up their travel:

• Choosing green lodging – these are hotels that employ locals, have recycling and linen reuse programs, and give back to the local community. Some green lodging really is renting a hammock on the beach, but other options including working on local farms,  renting local apartments, or exchanging homes.

• Taking public transportation, walking, or biking – these are all great options for reducing the amount of carbon emissions a traveler causes when they travel. Many cities have begun implementing bike exchanges, for example, and you can often find some of the best tours of cities by hiring a walking tour guide to give you the local, grounds-eye view of a new destination.

• Carrying a refillable water bottle – if you’re flying, you’ll need to empty it before you go through security, but you can refill it on the other side and you won’t be buying and tossing water bottles as you travel. You can even get water bottles that filter the water for impurities now so the water you’re drinking is a little safer.

• Avoiding takeout in non-recyclable containers – as a traveler, you may not be in the position to cook where you’re staying, so buying your food as you go is part of the travel experience. Street vendor foods and even restaurant leftovers can often be wrapped in just a little paper or recyclable aluminium foil rather than in products that cannot be recycled and cause a greater landfill footprint (think styrofoam).

• Booking non-stop flights – a significant portion of a plane’s carbon emissions comes from the takeoff and landing, so reducing the stops helps a traveler’s overall carbon footprint.

• Buying local when you arrive – this means choosing local restaurants that buy their products from local farmers instead of hitting the chain that imports everything. Some travelers skip the TSA hassle and buy their shampoo, sunscreen, lotion and other liquids when they arrive. This helps the local economy and makes for an easier trip through security. Donate what’s left to a local shelter or drop it off at a hostel and it will get used up.

Taking a green approach to travel has become important for many travelers and travel suppliers such as hotels and tour operators have heard the call and made options available to travelers who want to go green, but what does a green traveler have to think about when it comes to insuring their trip?

1. Missed connections extend beyond the airlines

A missed connection occurs when a traveler fails to meet a scheduled departure due to severe weather, road closures, labor strikes, or simple errors. Missed connections aren’t isolated to problems with flights. Public transportation can be shut down, roads may be closed, severe weather may stop all ferries from carrying passengers and cars.

When a traveler misses an important connection, they may be forced to purchase new tickets to catch up to their tour. They may have to purchase new lodging and wait for the next shuttle, ferry, or train to take them where they are going. They may be forced to hole up in a hotel and wait out a storm. Either way, it means unexpected and unplanned-for extra expenses and travel insurance with missed connection coverage can help.

2. Cancelling your green travel means losing money

Even green travelers have some pre-paid and usually non-refundable trip expenses. If you’ve taken advantage of an online deal for your green lodging, it often comes with a cancellation policy that means you’ll lose all your investment if you have to cancel. Non-stop flights are sometimes more expensive than those that take a stop or two to pick up more passengers and cancelling means losing that money as well.

When you’re traveling green, you may take advantage of early purchase or discounted travel arrangements and many of those come with strict cancellation rules. If your kid gets sick, or a parent dies, or your passport is stolen, you could be out a lot of money no matter what your style of travel is. Insuring your trip for potential cancellations is the only way to be sure you can get your money back and travel another time.

3. Getting evacuated from a remote village is expensive

For some travelers, green travel means going to very remote places and the more remote the better. If you get injured or find yourself severely ill in a remote location, local medical care may not be nearby and arranging an evacuation from a remote location is time-consuming, complicated, and expensive.

When you travel green and you take your travel to remote locations, it’s important to have emergency medical evacuation coverage from a travel insurance company. They’ll arrange and pay for the costs required to transport you to a medical facility where you can be treated. They’ll also bring you home once you’re stabilized.

4. Medical care may not be available or reliable

The State Department’s travel destination information indicates many locations in the world that are ideal for green travel but have little in the way of close, reliable medical care. If you’re thrown from a donkey while riding a trail in the mountains of Argentina, you may be able to be transported to a medical facility but the local doctors are going to want up-front payment before they treat you beyond basic life-saving measures.

If your health insurance back home doesn’t cover your medical bills where you’re traveling (and many don’t – even Medicare doesn’t extend beyond the U.S. borders) then you could be paying for your medical care by credit card. Buying a travel insurance plan with coverage for medical emergencies means you can be reimbursed for your costs and many travel insurance providers will pay the medical facility directly – a fact that could speed up your treatment.

5. Baggage thieves could leave you nothing to wear

No country is immune from theft and your bag – even when you carry it on the plane – passes through many hands when you travel. In some situations, green travelers are at a higher risk of baggage theft simply because of their exposure. Your baggage may be tossed on top of a bus or strapped to the back of a bike taxi, but it’s always at risk of being stolen or pilfered – especially when you’re distracted by the sights and sounds of your new destination.

A travel insurance plan with coverage for lost or stolen baggage means that you can will be reimbursed for items that are stolen from your baggage. Read our review of baggage coverage or more details.

6. Going green doesn’t have to mean going it alone

Just because you’ve committed to traveling green doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. When you’re in a foreign emergency room having your foot stitched up, it can be a great relief to have a multi-lingual travel insurance representative helping you with interpretations. If it turns out your green hotel overbooked their rooms and you have no place to get some rest, your travel insurance concierge services can help you find another hotel nearby.

Travel insurance plans come with worldwide travel assistance services and the representatives are available 24/7 to help their members who get stuck in sticky travel situations. All it takes is a phone call to get the help you need.

Many business travelers find that extending their business travel – at least at some locations – is an affordable way to pack a little fun and discovery into their business trips.

A three-day business convention in London, for example, can easily be turned into a week-long family vacation with four days for pleasure. By combining business with pleasure, business travelers can often take advantage of ‘free’ airfare paid for by their employer by simply pushing their return date out a few days and then picking up the costs for the pleasure portion of their trip on their own.

The trend is catching on too. Many conferences now offer on-site child care for those attendees who want to extend their business trip into a family vacation.

A business trip, like any other trip, needs to be carefully planned and the travel insurance aspect must be addressed. If your company has a travel department and encourages pleasure extensions, you’re way ahead of the game. If they further cover their employees with business travel insurance plans, you’ve got some support for the business portion of your trip but perhaps not the pleasure portion of your trip. If you have to plan your business travel yourself, you’re going to want to look into your travel insurance options to be sure the business AND pleasure components are covered.

Here’s what you need to think about before extending your next business trip:

1. Does your health coverage extend to this travel?

Some business travelers are covered by their health coverage while traveling for business – some are not and so this is an especially critical concern. Before you take any business trip that’s outside your health insurance network, it’s important to make sure that you have health coverage for where you’re traveling.

When you’ve extended your business trip for pleasure, that health coverage that applied to the business portion of your trip may not be available to you if you’re outside the standard health care network. If you get injured while hiking in New Zealand after a long week of business strategy meetings, will your health care cover those medical costs or not?

This is an especially grey area of health care coverage and it could require some research through your benefits department and even by calling the health insurance company representatives.

It’s important to realize that travel medical insurance is very affordable – one of the most affordable types of travel insurance and often worth the purchase simply for the peace of mind.

2. What if your business trip is cancelled?

If the business portion of your trip is suddenly cancelled, the company takes the hit on the pre-paid trip costs, but if your pleasure trip was combined with the business trip you may have some cancellation concerns of your own.

In some cases, your employer may simply let you repay the company for the airfare and you can take the extra time for pleasure, but that’s something you’ll have to work out with your employer.

Here’s how to avoid a big loss if the business portion of your trip is cancelled and you can’t go:

• Schedule your lodging with places that allow last-minute cancellations. You may have to pay a higher per-night price, but it could be worth it.

• Pay for tours and other trip costs when you arrive, and not before. Again, this might mean paying a slightly higher per-ticket price, but you won’t be out the entire amount if your trip is cancelled and you can’t go.

• If family members were to travel with you on the business trip, consider covering their airfare with ‘cancel for any reason’ trip cancellation coverage. If your business trip is cancelled but your airfare was not included in the trip cancellation coverage, the standard covered reasons for cancelling likely will not apply and your claim will be denied.

Essentially, you want to be sure you limit your out-of-pocket non-refundable trip costs just in case the business trip is cancelled.

3. How is your baggage covered?

When you travel for business, what goes in your bag is very different from when you travel for pleasure. Business suits replace bathing suits, laptops and display equipment replace your e-reader, and you could be hauling quite a bit of promotional material. Many business travelers have corporate credit cards with extended travel benefits – often covering items like luggage. Now is a good time to call the credit card company and have them send you the latest copy of your travel benefits – ask for the fine print version.

Read that carefully to determine if you:

• Have coverage for all the items you’re taking for your business trip. If the equipment you’re taking along is worth more than you’re covered for, consider insuring it another way or shipping it ahead of time with extended insurance applied.

• Have coverage for your personal items while on the extended portion of your trip. Sometimes the travel benefits are very specific and they won’t cover personal items that aren’t related to your business travel.

If you don’t have coverage for the stuff you’re taking along, check with your employer benefits department to see if your business travel coverage includes it. If not there either, it might be time to apply some travel insurance to your trip simply to be sure your business and personal items arrive intact and if they don’t, you’ll have some coverage to get them replaced in time to take care of business. See our full review of baggage coverage for details and review the baggage delay coverage information too.

4. Do you have a system for receipts?

Long gone are the days of the free-spending business traveler with a fat business account and little spending oversight. The receipts that apply to the business portion of your trip – hotel stays, meals, transportation are usually paid for your company but you’ll want to keep those carefully separate from those that apply to the pleasure portion of your trip.

5. Are you covered for travel delay costs?

Travel delays occur for all kinds of reasons – volcanic eruptions, terrorist attacks, severe weather, and more. When your travel is delayed and you incur additional unexpected expenses for lodging, meals, transportation, and other fees, do you have to pay for those yourself or does the company pick up the tab. If you’re on the pleasure part of your extended business trip, those costs may be yours to cover and a travel insurance plan with travel delay coverage can make a big difference.

6. Are you covered for evacuations?

A business traveler doesn’t always have the luxury of traveling to safe locations and yet, some of those less-than-safe places are also ideal for sight-seeing and discovery. After all, you might never get back to this region of the world again – why not take advantage of the opportunity?

Here’s the question to ask yourself: when a political or civil uprising occurs, will your company support your evacuation? If your business has concluded and you’re touring Egypt’s historic sites only to find yourself in a desperate situation and need a security evacuation, your company may arrange for that evacuation but they may not.

Some travel insurance plans cover security and political evacuations when the conditions where the traveler is become unsafe. Escaping these situations may depend on the traveler’s level of knowledge, his or her ability to communicate in the local language, and whether commercial transportation options are available, but a travel insurance representative can help a desperate traveler negotiate those situations.

If your business doesn’t cover these situations, and you’re a frequent business traveler it could be in your best interest to purchase your own coverage. See the best travel insurance plans for business travelers for more details.

7. If you’re taking the kids, can they get home alone?

One of the concerns  – especially for single parents traveling with their children – is how the children will be cared for and/or transported home if something happens to the parent. If you attend a conference with child care for your little ones and extend your business trip for a few days of fun with your kids but something happens and you’re hospitalized – who will take care of your kids?

Travel insurance plans with emergency medical reunion can bring a family member of friend to your bedside. Further, travel insurance plans with return of minor children coverage can coordinate the return of your children to their home so they are not left unattended.

A final word …

While extending business travel to include some pleasure travel is an ideal way for busy workers to maximize the benefits of their business travel, it also enters into a grey area when something happens on your trip and you need help. Ideally, business travelers will be covered by a business travel insurance plan purchased through the company, but it not, it’s worth it to many business travelers to have coverage of their own.

In 2010, the New York Times ran a story about five neuroscientists who took a rafting trip in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. The intent of the trip was to understand how the heavy use of digital devices and electronic technology changes how we think and behave – and also how retreating from them can reverse the (often negative) effects.

This is is why everyone calls it a vacation – it’s a restorative break from our normal lives.

These days, there are many people interested in off-the-grid living for a wide range of reasons, both political and personal, and the travel industry has caught on. Once isolated to those willing to pitch a tent and fish for their dinner, off-grid travel has become increasingly popular with jungle retreats, luxury resorts, and even trailers that are dropped off at remote locations – just for you to enjoy.

How far you take your off-the-grid travel adventure can range from simply turning off your electronic devices and leaving the car parked in favor of riding bikes all the way to sleeping in a hammock on a sustainable farm, eating only what you help produce, and showering in collected water.

If the idea of being in some remote area and fending for yourself appeals to you, there is still the question of safety. The following are five steps to prepare to stay safe when you travel off the grid.

1. Know your limits

Even if the chaos of your daily life has driven you to want a digital break, it’s important to know your limits. If you cannot live without your news fix, but you can take a break from reading hundreds of emails and tweeting what you had for lunch, factor that in. Leave your laptop or tablet at home, get your news fix at breakfast from a good old-fashioned television station and you’ve made a change you can live with on vacation.

We found some recommendations for how to digitally detox weeks ahead of your vacation to ensure that you really can go (and stay) off the grid for that amount of time (apparently this is incredibly tough for some folks).

2. Pack the essentials

Loads of off grid travelers take themselves to very remote places – often far out of range of good medical care. Sure, you’ll probably spend most of your day hiking, swimming, or even working the fields if you’re contributing to a sustainable farm as your payment for a bed to sleep in, but it still makes sense to wear sunscreen, stay well hydrated with clean, safe drinking water, and eat well.

Perhaps you don’t mind suffering through a headache, but if you cut your finger some antibacterial and a bandage wouldn’t be a bad idea. Take a little time to think about where you’re going, pack a travel medical kit, and don’t let an insect bite ruin your health on this trip.

3. Get the necessary vaccinations

Many off-grid travel locations are in unlikely and remote places. Some of those places can expose a traveler to unwanted and unwelcome diseases that they’re not likely to get back home. Many diseases common in other countries have been virtually eliminated in the U.S. Depending on your vaccination records, you may need a booster or a vaccination you never needed prior.

Do a little research about your destination so you know what items to bring and what vaccinations to get ahead of time. See our traveler’s vaccination checklist for more details.

4. Have an emergency plan

This is the one most travelers – even those not going off grid – forget and it’s unfortunate because some pre-trip planning can make all the difference. Anytime you’re traveling, it’s a good idea to let someone know where you’ll be and when you’re expected back. After all, if you don’t show up, help can be sent.

• Keep your travel cash and a backup credit card secure in a money belt.

• Know how to find medical help at your destination.

• Store your travel documents securely and leave a backup with someone you trust.

• Have some basic understanding of local laws so you avoid being arrested.

If you’re leaving behind all electronics, find out if where you’re going has a landline, a radio, or some way to get in touch in an emergency. Hint: even a whitewater rafting guide has to check in sometimes. If they don’t, consider the option of taking along a charged cell phone and turn it off unless you have an emergency.

5. Have travel insurance

Travel insurance is even more important when you’re traveling to a remote location where there are few medical facilities. If you are badly injured or become severely ill, you’ll need a travel insurance plan with coverage to take you to safety. Ensure that your travel insurance plan will cover your emergency medical treatment costs as well as your medical evacuation costs before you take your off-grid trip.

A final word about off-grid travel …

Some travelers find it very easy to get into the new no-digital routine, but while you’re traveling off the grid, it’s important to remember some basic safety rules too:

• Let someone know when you’re going hiking, swimming, etc. Even better, take a buddy along with you.

• Don’t touch the weird looking things. In remote places, you’re likely to encounter plants, insects, fruits, and more that you’ve never seen before. Unless you know what it is, don’t touch it.

• Respect the neighbors you do have. Some remote eco-resorts, for instance, are also populated with wild animals, snakes, rodents and more. The best way to stay safe is to respect their space.

See also our 7 Essential Travel Products for Of-the-Grid Trips for a few more ideas when you’re planning your next trip.

An expat, or expatriate, is a person who has decided to live and work in a country that is not their original home country. They may be residing temporarily, long-term, or permanently outside the country of their birth and for a wide range of reasons: they like the culture better, the work opportunities are better, the cost of living is better, and more.

What Insurance Concerns do Expats Have?

Expatriates have a long list of things to think about, including tax laws, whether to take their own vehicle or buy abroad, banking abroad, living arrangements, visa and work requirements, and more. Plus every country is different, so if you move around as an ex-pat, you’ll have to keep up with the rules and laws wherever you go.

As an expatriate, you also have to be concerned about health care. While some countries allow a visitor to receive health care paid for by the government, others are less inclined. If the expat doesn’t qualify as a citizen under the government of the country where they are living, their health care is handled differently – and often paid upfront unless they have an insurance plan.

This is fine as long as you never get sick, break a tooth (or a leg), fall into a ditch, run into a nasty mosquito, or get into a car accident, for example. According to media reports, the cost of health care may be the highest in the U.S. and Canada, but it’s rising around the globe as well. Unless you are one of the few who prefer to risk it, buying an expatriate insurance plan is the way to go.

How is Expat Insurance Different from Travel Insurance?

There are essentially two types of travel insurance: vacation plans and travel medical plans. Most vacation (package) plans cover trips of a limited amount of time (often just 30 days) and the cost of covering a cancellation comprises most of the premium. But as an expat, you don’t care too much about trip cancellation coverage. It’s not useful to you.

For an expat, a travel medical plan is the way to go and the premiums are much less than those for package plans. Plus, they come in short- and long-term periods of coverage (even annual) and they can often be extended for more time or renewed on an annual basis. Plus, periodic visits back home are allowed without invalidating your coverage.

Expatriate Insurance Can Cover Non-Emergency Medical Care

Now that you know you have to choose a travel medical plan, it’s also important to consider where you’re going, what type of medical care will be available to you, and whether you’ll need basic maintenance medical care for minor illnesses and checkups.

If you are living and/or working abroad, you may want to have the same level of health insurance as is typical back in the U.S. – especially if you’re traveling as a family and have (or are planning to have) kids. If so, you’ll want to look into a long-term travel medical plan with coverage for non-emergency medical care.

Expat Insurance May Include some Package-like Benefits

Most insurance plans that are appropriate for expats also include at least some benefits that are more commonly found in vacation plans, like the following:

• Trip interruption – if you are suddenly called home for an emergency

• Baggage loss – if your bags are stolen or sent to a different place than you are

• Travel delays – if your trip is delayed and you will have to shell out unexpected costs

• Missed connection – if you miss a connection that causes you to experience a loss

You should carefully review the exclusions of your plan because many plans don’t include coverage for hurricanes, terrorism, political unrest and more. Once you’re in your new country, you can expect your insurance company to get you out unless you have the coverage for it.

Determining How Much Coverage You Need

This is where things can get more complicated because how much coverage you need depends on several things:

• How much medical care costs where you’re going

• How much money you have available at any time to pay for medical care

• Your personal level of comfort with risk

Much like investing in stocks, choosing the right coverage limit is a highly personal decision, but there is some research you can do to make your decision easier. Start by going to the U.S. State Department’s International Travel Information site, and choose the country where you’ll be living as an expat.

Let’s say you’ve decided to spend a year in Australia as an expat, so you choose Australia and the country specific information displays. There are several sources of useful information here, including (links are specific to Australia):

• Medical Facilities and Health Information

• Medical Insurance

According to the information for Australia, excellent medical care is available but you should check to see if the policy you already have covers you in that country, and if not, you’ll want to have some type of overseas medical coverage.

Finding Expat Insurance Plans

When it comes to finding expatriate insurance plans, we found a couple of plans that you can review for your expat trips:

1. HTH Worldwide Global Citizen EXP – this plan is worldwide health insurance for emergency and preventative care and includes optional prescription drug benefits, maternity benefits, and more.

2. Frontier MEDEX TravMed International – this plan has major medical coverage, dental care, and covers evacuations/repatriations for travelers living away from home for extended periods of time.

You can use our compare quotes tool to find an expat insurance plan that fits your needs. Be cautious about any pre-existing medical conditions you may have as medical care for those may not be covered if you choose a plan that excludes pre-existing conditions.

Be sure to check out our Tips to Surviving Culture Shock too!

If you have always wanted to live abroad and experience new cultures in-depth, teaching abroad is one way to achieve that goal. Trained American teachers with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree are nearly always in demand in some of the most exotic countries you’ll ever see and it’s a great way to get to know the local culture at a personal level.

Teachers abroad work directly with students and parents, but they may also create after-school programs, tutoring programs, interest clubs, and camps for boys and girls to learn life skills.

Some teaching abroad programs are centered around the children of U.S. nationals who are based in foreign countries for government work and projects overseas, so you can often teach in your own language in a foreign country. They recruit year round for American International Schools throughout the world. These schools serve the children of international executives and State Department employees.

You can also teach at foreign universities and public schools through one of several Fulbright Exchange Programs:

• The Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program

• The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program

Teachers who live and work abroad improve the chances for children to grow up with an education. They also gain significant – and highly desirable – skills that will enhance their resumes and help them gain employment when they return to the U.S.

If this sounds exciting to you, read on for expert tips for teaching abroad.

1. Choose your Source with Care

Of course you want your overseas teaching experience to be safe, and working with reputable recruiting sources is critical. One of the first sources teachers turn to is the U.S. State Department’s Teaching Overseas page where you’ll find dozens of useful links for finding jobs, contacting the local schools, and more.

The following are other reputable sources when you want to teach abroad:

• Transitions Abroad: teach abroad advice.

• Tesall: ESL teaching positions.

• CIEE: reputable placement organization for teaching abroad.

• ESL Jobs: job listings, career advice, and curriculum resources.

• ESL Employment: teach abroad job listings and suggestions.

• Idealist: search overseas teaching opportunities with large nonprofits.

• Peace Corps: volunteer to teach in Peace Corps locations.

• Teach Away: applications for private and government run schools.

• World Teach: volunteer to get experience teaching abroad.

• Department of Defense: Department of Defense opportunities abroad at U.S. military base schools.

• Eteach: recruitment site for teaching abroad in the United Kingdom and other countries.

 

2. Check Education and Certification Levels

A job seeker who has a bachelors degree but no teaching certification can still take advantage of the many opportunities to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). Agencies and recruiters post jobs in countries from Dubai to Thailand, and every country in between. The Peace Corps provides teaching opportunities in many locations as well.

3. Understand the Terms of the Teach Abroad Job

If you take a job teaching abroad, you can expect to make a minimum commitment of one year. Before you accept a position, carefully investigate the job source and the school where you will be teaching. Get everything in writing, including your work hours, where you will be living (and the condition), vacation and personal time off, etc. Check with the recruiting company about the options for local medical treatment and be sure to have adequate travel health insurance.

Find out about the requirements for visas and work permits from the recruiting company, and check those facts at the U.S. State Department website. You’ll also want to verify whether certain vaccinations and/or medications are required before you leave.

In some cases, teachers receive a salary and in others they receive a stipend, so it’s important to understand the terms you are agreeing to before you sign up. In some cases, you’ll have free housing, transportation, moving expenses and other allowances, which gives you more purchasing power than a similar (and likely higher) salary you can expect in the U.S.

4. Study Up on the Teach Abroad Experience

It’s important to study up and understand the teach abroad experience. The Teacher Port Blog offers the Best Teaching Abroad Blogs of 2012 as a list of blogs you can read for tips on how to find sustainable teaching jobs abroad but also read up and understand the teaching experience.

If you can, try to speak or email with teachers from the country where you are going to learn about the political climate, and local customs as well as what items you may want to tuck into your bags to make your stay more comfortable and safe. Talk with present and/or former teachers from your recruiting service to learn what level of support you can expect when you are living in the foreign country – especially if things go badly. You can also inquire about the host country’s expatriate community because those folks can be extremely helpful when you’re trying to adjust to a new culture.

See our 5-Part Guide in Culture Shock 101 to help you understand the effects and how to overcome culture shock.

The tradition of the honeymoon has been around for many centuries and from the start it was intended to give newly wed couples time together. In the Christian bible, for example, there are references to a period of time after a wedding when a man should be exempt from public service and military duties in order to make sure his new bride is happy.

Today, the honeymoon tradition remains strong and honeymoons are seen as a time for the newly-married couple to spend time together without interruptions. A honeymoon gives new couples the chance to explore unique experiences together and get to know each other better after the wedding mayhem has passed.

Of course, a honeymoon is still a trip and just like any trip you take it can come with its own special share of risks and mis-adventures. If you’re planning a honeymoon soon, or know someone who is, see these reasons to insure your honeymoon trip – even if you’ve never purchased travel insurance before. These real-life honeymoon disasters will help you understand why.

1. My fiancé was in a car accident

The aftermath of any car accident can be devastating and when you’re focused on helping your fiancé recover from a car accident, your honeymoon may be the absolute last thing on your mind.

Still, if a traffic accident causes you to have to cancel your honeymoon, it’s nice to know that you can get 100% of your non-refundable trip costs refunded to you so that you can reschedule your honeymoon for a better time.

Trip cancellation is pre-departure coverage that reimburses the insured travelers for their pre-paid and non-refundable trip costs if the trip is canceled for a covered reason. It’s important to note that each plan defines the covered reasons for trip cancellation a little differently, so be sure to read your travel insurance document carefully.

See our review of trip cancellation coverage for more details.

2. We got food poisoning

Health care in countries outside North America may be less expensive overall, it’s still not cheap. Depending on the medical emergency that causes you to need emergency medical care, you could be paying out of pocket for x-rays, hospitalization, surgery, medication, and more.

If you need medical care outside your own health insurance network, or if one or both of you are not covered by health care that extends to your honeymoon destination, you could be in serious financial debt just as you are starting your life together.

To obtain emergency medical care outside the U.S., you’ll want to have emergency medical coverage that will reimburse you or coordinate payments to the hospital directly. If both of you are hospitalized for more than a short time, your travel insurance plan will fly a family member or friend to be at your bedside.

See our review of travel medical coverage for more details.

3. Our honeymoon suite was robbed

Even the best hotels experience robberies and when you’re the bride and groom checking in, all a potential thief sees is dollar signs – in the form of jewelry, wedding cash, and gifts. If your honeymoon suite is robbed and they take everything they can get their hands on, you may have lost more than your clothes.

Having a good travel insurance plan with baggage coverage will help. You’ll need to file a local police report to make a successful claim. It’s important to understand, however, that there is a maximum payout and a per-item limit. Expensive items like electronics and jewelry aren’t covered and cash is never covered.

Insure the more expensive items you’re traveling with – including the wedding rings – on your homeowners insurance policy instead. That will give you the best protection if they are lost or stolen.

See our review of baggage coverage for more details and keep that wedding cash in a money belt instead!

4. A tornado made us miss our cruise

When tornadoes rip through regions, they cause tremendous damage – sometimes including damage to airports and planes. The residual effects can mean canceled, re-routed, and/or delayed flights. If the cruise ship containing your honeymoon suite leaves before you arrive because you were delayed as a result of a tornado, a travel insurance plan with good missed connection coverage can help save your honeymoon.

Missed connection coverage reimburses an insured traveler for flight change fees and/or additional unexpected transportation costs that are necessary to meet a cruise or tour in the event of a missed flight connection due to an accident or bad weather. Plus, the travel assistance representatives will help you locate an alternate flight along your cruise ship’s path so you can catch up to it at another port.

See our review of missed connection coverage for more details.

5. We were called home – my father died

The death of someone important to you is heart-wrenching. When you’re traveling and get the call, it also means some critical decisions have to be made: such as how are you going to get home, by which route, and how quickly?

A travel insurance plan with trip interruption coverage means you’ll get up to 150% of your unused trip costs back if you have to cancel your trip cover a covered reason and return home. This means you’ll have the money you need to pay for unexpected trip costs such as last-minute airfares, hotels, and other trip expenses as you make your way back home to be with your family.

Trip interruption coverage comes with a few limitations, including the time to purchase and covering all your trip expenses, so be sure to see our review of trip interruption coverage for full details.

6. A hurricane left us stranded

While a hurricane’s path of destruction may be wide, there are many residual effects of hurricanes that affect travelers who are well outside the path of the hurricane. These effects come in the form of canceled and delayed flights, and more. In many cases, the airlines work with travelers affected by hurricanes, but even if your flight is rescheduled at no cost, resorts, hotels, tour operators, and more may not be as quick to refund your money.

If an unexpected travel delay occurs, you could be out days’ worth of pre-paid trip expenses and you could be paying out-of-pocket for some unplanned expenses such as rental cars, lodging, meals, and more.

A travel insurance plan with travel delay coverage means you’ll have a per-day amount you can use as reimbursement for unexpected expenses. Be sure to keep all your receipts and get a written copy of the delay from your airline (don’t worry, they know exactly what to print) for when you make a claim. Then, get back to enjoying your rescued honeymoon – it’s just a good sign for your bright future together.

7. We called off the wedding

Hey, it happens. Better to call it off before than pay divorce lawyers later, right?

If a wedding is canceled in the movies, one of the parties takes the tickets and leaves on their honeymoon trip anyway, but that doesn’t work for everyone. Plus, travel insurance plans don’t typically cover changing your mind, which is the reason this particular trip is being canceled.

‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage is usually an upgrade although some travel insurance plans include it if the plan is purchased soon after the first trip payment is made. This coverage reimburses the insured for up to 100% of their pre-paid non-refundable trip costs if the trip is canceled for any reason – like the wedding being called off.

If you want that last bit of protection – especially for an expensive, once-in-a-lifetime trip like this – then see our review of ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage for details and pay attention to the cancellation penalties. Usually this type of coverage requires that the trip be cancelled with a certain amount of time prior to the trip, so read the plan carefully to understand those critical details.

Today’s traveler knows that the initial price of their airfare is really just a reservation and not a full payment. Extra fees for services such as checking bags, priority boarding, and meals adds approximately 15 percent onto the base fare.

Airlines today are profitable largely due to the revenue streams from these fees and even the low-cost carriers are getting in the game, charging customers higher amounts for flight changes – a fact that makes tech-savvy travelers nuts – and even carry-on bag fees.

All of these changes affect business travelers but they’re also hard on traveling families. Here are 9 tips traveling families can save money on their trips.

1. Try to avoid airline fees

Some of the latest airline fees can hit traveling families hard. Recently, the big three airlines – American, Delta, and United – all announced increased change ticket fees. Their eye-twitch inducing $200 per seat change fee on top of any difference in the fare can hit families traveling together pretty hard when school holidays are delayed or cancelled because of missed school days due to blizzards or super storms.

It’s not just change fees families have to worry about either. Frontier airlines recently announced an incredible $100 fee for carry-on bags that have to be checked at the gate (it’s just $25 if you pay at check-in).

Avoiding the airline fees entirely is nearly impossible, but minimizing them is important to families. Research your options ahead of time and try to minimize airline fees anyway you can.

2. Don’t buy too early

While you may be tempted to get your vacation reservations made early, it’s not the best way to get the best price. The airlines and hotels are intentionally set up for higher prices early on to catch those who must book their travel (business travelers often have little choice about the timing of their trips, for example) and their prices begin to fall as the time gets closer.

Experts recommend shopping for flights well in advance using airline and hotel comparison sites like Kayak.com and Hotels.com. Set up email alerts for the dates and routes you want to travel and then wait and watch. The flights typically begin to fall between 45 and 60 days before you’d like to travel. You’ll notice the trends and have a better idea what a ‘good’ price is versus an average price pretty quickly and you’ll be ready to buy when the right one appears.

3. Go in the ‘off-season’

Yes, this is harder for families tied to school year calendars, but many schools across the U.S. are turning to year-round calendars and this is having an effect on travel. The typical summertime breaks are now scattered across the warmer months of the year and the shoulder seasons often bleed into breaks.

Depending on a whole bunch of factors, you could take the kids out of school and consider the trip an educational experience and some parents resort to doing just that without doing a lot of harm to their kids. Really.

Ideally, traveling during the off-season means going anywhere you want when the crowds are least likely to be there. This means traveling to the Caribbean during hurricane season (June 1st through November 30th), visiting Yosemite in the winter, and heading to Hawaii in September. Any way you can avoid long lines, thick crowds, and higher prices can help stretch the family’s travel dollar.

4. Avoid hotels

Sure, you’re going to have to stay somewhere but hotels are nearly always the worst option for families. There are a range of options for staying in apartments, flats, and even entire houses that cost less than an economy hotel room where everyone’s piled in on top of each other.

If you have a home or apartment here, consider exchanging with another traveler. This is often a great option for traveling families because when they partner with other families, the home is usually set up in a kid-friendly way already. There are many home exchange and vacation rental sites available online.

5. Live like a local

When you avoid staying at a hotel, it’s easier to live like a local. Families can save a lot of money by eating at least some of their meals at ‘home’. Public transportation is often cheaper than renting a car, plus many vacation rentals include bicycles which can give you and the kids some great exercise and a way to explore your destination from ground level. Ask the locals where they like to eat their meals and you’re more likely to find inexpensive and the tastiest options around.

Plus, if you decided to take the kids out of school for this break, you can use your grocery shopping trips to test their language math skills (think reading labels and calculating currency conversions).

6. Go where the dollar goes farther

If the current exchange rate is dashing your dreams of a trip to France, travel somewhere the dollar has better purchasing power. Right now, South and Central America and Canada are great options, but don’t overlook destinations like Turkey, Switzerland, and Croatia – they’ve avoided switching to the Euro and are more budget-friendly. There are many affordable destinations that are rich in culture, history, and natural beauty available on a budget.

Staying inside the U.S. is also a great way to keep costs down. If the kids haven’t yet seen every single national park, it’s a great time to visit them and show your support – especially as they’re working hard to keep the parks open during a budget crisis.

7. Look for cheap and free things to do

Many destinations have local coupon books that give you discounts on attractions. Many larger cities like Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta (to name just a few) have CityPASS. These passes combine offers from a lot of attractions over a period of days and the more people you have, the more you save.

When it comes to finding free things to do, all it takes is a little research. After all, even the famous Louvre in Paris has free admission when visitors fall into certain categories or visit on certain days. City parks, biking and hiking trails, and more – there are always free things families can do to stretch their travel dollars. After all, families where you’re going need to save money too. While you’re living like a local, ask other families what things they like to do and see.

8. Insure your trip

If you do have to cancel your trip for unavoidable reasons, trip cancellation protection means you’ll be able to be reimbursed for your pre-paid trip costs. With many hotels now committed to strict cancellation fees in exchange for lower room prices, many travelers are also stuck footing that bill when they have to cancel.

Often, simply cancelling the trip, making a claim on your travel insurance, and going another time is cheaper than trying to navigate the change fees and cancellation rules. Just make sure you’re cancelling your trip for a reason that’s covered by your travel insurance plan.

Stretch your travel dollars by choosing a family travel insurance plan that covers kids at no extra charge. Just make sure that all the kids are related to you. Travel insurance plan only covers those dependents who are related, i.e., not your child’s best friend.

9. Avoid unexpected medical costs

If you’re traveling outside your health insurance network, take a little time to get travel medical insurance. The cost of medical care is rising around the world and some countries refuse to treat travelers beyond life-saving measures when they’re not citizens of the country.

To get a doctor to treat you at a hospital in Costa Rica, for example, you’ll need a major credit card just to get things started. Travel medical insurance can be as cheap as a dollar day for most travelers, so it’s really a no-brainer.