The Importance of Travel Insurance: Expect the Unexpected

So many things can happen on vacation. Most of them are good, like making new friends, learning more about the culture and eating delicious foods, but some are not so good, like getting lost, being mugged or contracting some gross bug that ruins your whole trip. Luckily, when the bad things happen, there might be a way to make it better. Not that getting sick or losing your passport is going to be fun, but you can worry less when you have insurance to back you up and make the bad times easier to handle.

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As someone who travels between two to four times per year, I’ve had my share of issues on trips. I’ve been sick, had my luggage go missing and had my car broken into. If everything went right all the time, I would be shocked, because that’s just not how life works. You seem to always need something when you don’t have it, so getting travel insurance seems like a given, right? Most people don’t even think about it. If you’re going out of the country, your regular insurance my not cover you…and it certainly won’t cover things specifically trip-related, like lost or delayed luggage, emergency evacuations or hurting yourself due to hiking a steep mountain.

What if something unforeseen happens and you have to cancel your trip? Many airlines or travel websites don’t allow for trip cancellation or rebooking, or at least without some sort of hefty fee. On the off-chance you have to change your trip or can’t even take it, you’ll be glad you’ve thought of travel insurance. I always buy it when we plan a complicated and/or expensive trip. It’s one thing to lose money on a 3-4 day trip to Vegas, but quite another to not be reimbursed for, or be able to change the details of a cruise vacation or a two-week trip to Europe. That may be tear-inducing, especially when you’ve had to spend several years saving up to get there.

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If you travel internationally, you’ll want to consider a travel medical plan, which will take over where your regular medical insurance stops. Make sure you’re covered in case of an emergency or can get home in case that’s your best course of action for medical attention. In fact, if you travel a lot, you can even get multi-trip insurance that covers you for an entire year of travel.

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Have a student who’s studying abroad? There’s a plan for that as well. Though they may be covered under the school’s insurance, it’s always nice to know for certain that they will be well taken care of when they’re not home for you to do it. Whether they need to go the hospital or just make a quick trip to the doctor, both are included in your plan.

Have you decided to move to another country to live and work for a time? Choose a comprehensive expatriate insurance plan for long-term coverage. Bring the convenience of your home plan wherever you put down temporary roots.

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In charge of a group of travelers, like missionaries or volunteers? There are fantastic group plans available to cover everyone going. Don’t stress out over what will happen if someone gets hurt building that school for the needy or hiking the jungle. It’s inevitable that when your numbers are larger that something will happen to someone. It’s almost unavoidable. What’s not unavoidable is getting them immediate and efficient help when it does happen.

You’ll be able to find insurance for every sort of travel and for your family or just yourself at internationalInsurance.com, so before you take any trip, determine if you are willing to take the chance at things going to plan or whether you’d rather plan for the unexpected to happen and feel secure that you’re covered should you fall and break your leg or something less extreme like your trip is delayed. The world is unpredictable, so make sure someone has your back in the event of an emergency large or small.

Connect with InternationalInsurance to learn more or interact with a rep on: 

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Has there ever been a time in your life when you wished you had travel insurance and didn't?

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own and I recommend this company.

Free and Cool Las Vegas Part 2

This week we continue our journey on how to travel to Las Vegas without going broke. If you missed it, see Part 1 here. I love Sin City and am always looking to see more things there for a different kind of Vegas vacation. I was able to get out on my own this time, which I really enjoyed, and also dragged Eric along to check out things we hadn't done before. Last time I talked about the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace and the Flamingo, so let's look at some other hotels and activities that will leave you with money to gamble or just save cash to spend on a future vacation.

Mirage – We had gone to the Mirage last time we were in town to see the indoor rainforest. Now, I will admit it's not much, but if you do go, make sure it's during the day, because it's much more picturesque. In the dark of the evening, it's not all that impressive, you can't see the water feature or the glass ceiling. Unfortunately, this means if you want to see the other freebies, you need to time your visit just right. 

Here's what I suggest: head over in the late afternoon, splash out some bucks ($19.95pp) to visit the Dolphin Habitat and Secret Garden, and then come inside to view the rainforest and take some pics in this tiny little slice of paradise. Head back out front, where you can see the other water features and cement sculptures of dolphins and then wait to watch the volcano erupt. It starts before sundown and runs every half hour, so you can easily also grab a bite to eat inside, possibly at BLT Burger, before you go out to see the eruption. 

Mirage also has an aquarium onsite with fantastic marine creatures. It's right behind the check-in desk and holds 20,000 gallons of awesomeness. I missed it on my trip, but I'll make sure to catch it next time around.

New York New York – If you'd like to visit The Big Apple, but find yourself in Vegas instead, head over to NYNY and wander the streets of New York City, see Times Square and grab a Nathan's hot dog (or something more appetizing) while you sit in a cute little urban neighborhood where you don't have to worry about getting mugged or dirty streets. Unfortunately, they've taken out Central Park for more slot space and the steaming manhole covers seem to be gone, but it still has a fun feel and is worth taking a trip over to the resort. 

If you like bigger thrills than games of chance, you'll want to ride on the roller coaster here. It loops a bunch and gives you amazing views of the resort and The Strip. We were lucky to get a free ride coupon from family who work in the MGM resorts, but you can often find 2-for-1 coupons. If not, and you really want to get your money's worth, skip the $14 one-shot ticket and get an unlimited all-day pass for $25 instead. Bring some quarters for the mandatory lockers.

Walk along the street to view the NY skyline, walk along the Brooklyn Bridge and see Lady Liberty. There are some awesome photo ops inside and out at all hours of the day and night.

Paris – If Europe is more your thing, walk over to Paris and wander the streets of the City of Light. This is my favorite hotel and resort. I love the feeling of being outside while being inside. I love seeing the European-style "buildings" and restaurants and, of course, I love the Eiffel Tower. 

Splurge a bit on lunch at Ile St. Louis, where you sit at a "sidewalk cafe" and get served Parisian-style dishes with amazing service. You won't regret it. If you are looking for a quick meal, go straight to Le Creperie, across from Le Village Buffet and get a delicious crepe and a drink that you can enjoy wherever you find a seat.

What are some of your favorite Vegas must-dos?

Review: Packing Cubes from eBags

Are you sick of being totally disorganized when you travel? it can be a big pain when you are pulling everything out of your carry-on to find that one thing that you need. eBags Packing Cubes can help you make the most of the space in your bag and eliminate rummaging, so you can spend more time enjoying your vacation and less time trying to separate your clothes from everyone else's in your bag or looking for your swimsuit so you can go just in the pool.

Though I enjoy rolling my clothes to save space in my bag, you can roll within your packing cube. Earlier this week I review the EXO 2.0 Hardside Spinner Carry-on, which I packed for my East Coast trip for the fall. Well, I took those same clothes and separated them into packing cubes and then repacked the carry-on as you would any bag you would be taking with you. With the three different sizes, I could keep my clothes separate from Eric's and use the smaller one for undergarments or for our swimsuits, towel and waterproof pouch for my phone.

As you can see, each bag has a side handle for easily carrying or pulling out of your bag or the top of the closet. This is perfect for the one I packed for beach essentials. Once there, I could add a bottle of sunscreen and just throw it in the back of the car for when we find ourselves at the beach, or to pull out of drawer and have all our swim necessities right at our fingertips to quickly dress for some time at the pool. 

With the mesh panels on the top of each back, you can see what's inside at only a glance and it allows the contents to breathe and not get all stuffy, no matter how long they are packed. it also allows airport security to quickly scan the bag without unpacking it all. Obviously, they can see it is full of clothes, toiletries or underwear and can move on. 

Packing cubes are totally lightweight, but the fabric is high-quality and durable, so you will be using them for years. Because they aren't stiffly constructed, the cube molds to the contents you pack inside. As you can see, I used the large size to pack all of Eric's clothing and the medium size for all of my own. I rolled his for maximum effectiveness, but folded all mine, for you to see that – either way – they can compress once packed in your carry-on. Of course, fitting everything in the cube snugly will help use all the interior space efficiently.

I also love the double zippers. They feature eBags' corded pulls, making your Packing Cubes super simple to open and close. The zippers are heavy-duty and are made to last.

Packing with cubes would allow me to have a little extra room in our carry-on, leaving space for an extra pair of shoes, some accessories or to bring back souvenirs from our trip. Obviously, I love the variety of sizes in the 3-piece set, but eBags makes all different sizes. Use these different sizes to make the best packing system for you and your travel needs. Maybe you will opt for two large cubes or six large slim cubes or three medium cubes. However you want to pack, eBags has a packing cube set for you. Sets range anywhere from $22 to $45.

Just think how easy it will be to unpack at your destination with packing cubes. Just pop them out of your luggage and into a drawer and you're done!

Other stuff you need to know:

What are these bags made of? TechLite Diamond Nylon

Available Colors: Aquamarine | Black | Canary | Denim | Eggplant | Grasshopper | Peony | Raspberry (shown) | Tangerine | Titanium

How much do they cost: The 3-piece set above is $29.99Where can you buy them? On the eBags website

Like eBags? You can also find them on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Disclosure: I recieved the eBags Packing Cube set for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are 100% my own.