One important thing to do before traveling is to buy an insurance (#11 in the list of things to do to prepare a trip). First, since I resigned, I do not have health insurance anymore and second, even if I had, it would not really cover my needs while traveling.

The first names that come to mind when I think about travel insurance are Europe Assistance and World Assistance but with Internet, it is now easy to find information on many insurance companies specialized in long term travels. The most important I think is to find an insurance compatible with the kind of activities you plan on doing.

I bought mine a couple of days ago with the same company I used last year to go to Peru: World Nomads. it is recommended by many people and it covers for most of the physical activities you could want to try included some “extreme” sports like surfing, scuba diving, motorcycle riding… And finally, it is not too expensive, I paid $206 for 5 months!

In case you want to bring expensive items like high end SLR cameras, it is advised to buy an additional insurance for them since the default coverage for your bag under the policy would not cover these items. I am not taking anything very expensive so I do not need it.

So, now , I have an insurance for everywhere except the USA… one more reason to leave soon ;).