Every time I hear of backpackers foregoing travel insurance while abroad, I can’t help but feel my jaw hit the floor each and every time in shock.

Okay, I get it. It’s expensive and the thought of throwing money at something you (hopefully) won’t need to use seems useless, but I can tell you firsthand that when and if you do need treatment of any kind, you’ll be happy you weren’t so frugal.

For nearly the entire first year of my travels, I barely got my money’s worth out of $1,000 of insurance while backpacking throughout Central America and Europe.

Then in Southeast Asia, my luck ran out…

I was hit with bacterial infections, followed by food poisoning and then the second worst strain of dengue fever, which landed me in the hospital for a week in Thailand. Because that wasn’t bad enough, I contracted typhoid fever in Cambodia and required a $60 consultation in Vietnam before heading off to India. So I would say yes, travel insurance has been a godsend.

Hotel Management Expert