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Travel Insurance Doesn’t Always Mean Coverage

It’s that time of year again where the sun smiles upon us, school is out and the wide, wide world of travel is just a flight away.

So you do some research on vacation options. You book a flight. You reserve a hotel room. And last but certainly not least, you call an insurance agent for an appropriate travel policy.

“Ah,” you think to yourself. “I’m covered from all angles.”

Not so fast, sir or ma’am!

While others like yourself may view the insurance they purchased as a ticket to peace of mind, it’s not always so.

Not every loss scenario that you can envision occurring will be covered.

This articles deals with issues that may arise as a result of not planning ahead or educating yourself properly about insurance issues.

Some Instances when Travel Insurance does not Cover Losses

1. If you think you are smart by buying travel insurance when you hear the radio tell you about a future storm, think again. A travel policy will not cover the cancellation of your trip following publicized storm information.

2. If you imagine that travel insurance will provide compensation for ordinary problems, stop dreaming. Your insurance will not compensate you for common inconveniences or lack of enjoyment.

3. Do not plan on getting covered for losses you cannot prove. You will need to show a sales receipt so that your loss can be substantiated.

4. Be aware that your insurance policy will likely not provide coverage for incidents that occurred while you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

5. Get your doctor involved before you go on your trip or you may not receive medical coverage under your travel insurance. If you cannot prove you were in good health prior to getting on the plan, you may run into coverage problems if you need medical care while on vacation.

6. Do not assume every activity you participate in is covered under your travel plan. If you get hurt while engaging in something that the insurance company considers dangerous you may not see reimbursement. Review your policy to ascertain which activities your insurance provider includes and which are viewed as perilous.

As in any form of indemnity, travel insurance has limits and deductibles, as well as exclusions. You owe it to yourself and your vacation to do the proper research ahead of the game. Speaking to an experienced independent agent will help you decide what policy is best for you and how to avoid getting denied for a related claim.

If Opportunity Doesn’t Knock, Build A Door

The title I used for this article can be originally attributed to Milton Berle. It’s as accurate today as it was when he first said it.

In 2012, a young boy named Kelvin Doe became the youngest person in the history of the program to be invited to the “Visiting Practitioners Forum” at MIT. He was 15. Check out what 8 million people found incredible about this young boy in this inspirational YouTube video.

Kelvin grew up in Sierra Leone and his family was impoverished. He became a self-taught engineer. And in the midst of poverty, he was able to build his own community radio station where he features news and music. He created ways for his rural community to have light. He built a generator because he needed it-all with the resources he found in his home or in the trash. When he did finally appear in the United States after news of his genius spread, he impressed the minds of the engineers and inventors at MIT.

Kelvin built a door.

So, how do you find opportunity and create the door if nothing is coming your way?

One of the things I have found is that you need to be prepared to take the initiative and maybe even trail-blaze. I am an entrepreneur and the founder of a nonprofit, a social enterprise and several businesses. I firmly believe if I spent my life waiting for something to come my way, I probably would have been waiting a long time.

“Building a door”, by definition, means constructing something. If you are looking to start something new, you have to be ready to create.

Do you always have to be the leader?

I don’t think so. If you are looking to create opportunity in developing a new social enterprise, nonprofit or business, you can be the person who has the idea. If you then bring that concept to others who are comfortable being in leadership roles, you can work together as a team.

Opportunities and the ideas that create them can be found almost anywhere. Historically, you have people who take an existing product or service and improve upon it. A simple tweak or subtle change here or there may make something more successful. These types of opportunities can be found simply by looking at what others may be overlooking. Oftentimes, success can be found by being a bit more observant and creative.

Other times, you have individuals who are able to create something and solve a problem in a way that has not previously been done. Let’s take Elon Musk, the chief product architect of Tesla Motors, inventor and entrepreneur. He’s been all over the news lately, and for good reason.

Elon Musk is a great example of someone who is seeing opportunity everywhere. In a nut shell, since NASA mothballed its space shuttle program, he has been working with other global leaders in privatizing what was once a government-only endeavor to have people travel to space. He is the co-founder of PayPal, which helped revolutionize how people send and receive money in a much more cost effective and seamless transaction on the Internet.

Recently, Elon Musk has been all over the news for two reasons: 1) He stated that self-driving cars was a problem that had been “solved”. In his remarks last month, he said that engineers and designers essentially knew how to get an automobile to drive itself and it would be only a matter of time until they perfected it and rolled it out systematically; and, 2) on March 30th, he sent out a single tweet that he would be unveiling a new invention, which was not a car, on April 30th.

That single tweet created an enormous buzz on the Internet and, remarkably, as was noted in this article, Tesla Motors stock jumped by $900 million or nearly 4 percent in 10 minutes following that tweet.

As of this writing, we don’t know what Elon Musk will be presenting, but this is opportunity. Just like Kevin, Elon Musk is a great example of someone who is thinking outside of the proverbial box and seeing opportunities abounding in different areas. Either inventor could have been limited by circumstance or “reality”, but that’s not the path they chose.

They are creating solutions. They are creating opportunity.

There may not be immediate pay-offs, but one of the messages you should internalize is that both Kevin Doe and Elon Musk are building doors where they might not have previously existed.

We all have the capacity and ability to do this. It is not special to a favored few. We just have to believe in ourselves and then do the work.

When Life Doesn’t Go to Plan

Bad news and setbacks can catch us all out from time to time, creeping up on us unexpectedly, sometimes with little or no warning. We may react angrily at first, looking for someone to blame, or shed tears and feel incredulous, wondering, ‘why me, what have I done to deserve this?’

But life doesn’t always go to plan and bad news and setbacks have their role in life. It’s not uncommon for people to afterwards reflect and appreciate the lessons learned and valuable connections made through having to deal with those tough times.

There are many areas that can be fraught and catch us unawares:

– The ending of a relationship is one area that is familiar to many of us. Even if the end has been brewing for some time it can still be a shock when the final moments arrive. Healing can take a while, as we reconcile to what’s happened, lick our wounds and start to build a new life.

It may teach us about ourselves, about what we want and don’t want from a relationship, who are friends are. We may need to retreat into ourselves for a while, spend some time on our own. But equally, being in a relationship is an important experience that enables us to learn a lot about ourselves and about living in a world where we have to share and accommodate others.

– Our business or position at work may become untenable. Our role may have changed or even the company structure may be being overhauled. If redundancy is being mooted, or an important contract or contact has not materialised, cut backs may have to be made and it could be a good time to consider our options as well as our financial position and security.

Post-lockdown may be when we decide to action our revised priorities, having started to think differently about what really matters in life. Money and acquisitions may have become less important than time with family, friends, living with less stress, and enjoying our hobbies and interests.

Alternative options often come into their own at a time like this, maybe prompting decisions to down-size our home, go into self-employment, develop a part-time business which works with hours to suit, but also allows us to develop a new interest, consultancy role or career.

Might it be time to let a change in work provide the focus for developing a side hustle; trading more on eBay, turning a talent for organising, software design, baking, dog walking into more of a business.

Some people appreciate being able to barter or exchange their goods and services for things they need. It’s a system that can work to everyone’s advantage, as they utilise their existing skills, pass on what they don’t need or build relationships, support their community and develop their reputation.

– Fit and healthy people sometimes get hit with a devastating blow when their health situation is impacted and they become unable to work or maybe live an active life anymore. Everything has to change. They have to live with a very different vision of their future now.

Learning to adapt, cope with and reconcile to altered circumstances requires learning new ways of functioning. Paying attention to attitude and mental health can be essential as a way of dealing with the myriad of emotions that often surface. When faced with a serious health diagnosis, there’s often a need to grieve for the lost future, and work through many emotions; frustration, anger, depression, despair, until finally some form of acceptance eventually arrives.

– Tough times teach us who are real friends are. Fair weather friends are great fun when the sun’s shining and everything’s going well, but sometimes there’s a role for foul-weather friends, those people who are there when we need someone to listen to our woes, console us and help us find our feet again. Both are important additions to our lives.

– Problems give us an opportunity to road test and really trial our plans. Will they survive challenges and obstacles, what are our contingency plans? It’s all very well when things work out as expected but bad news and setbacks give us time to reevaluate what we’re doing, how we deal with complaints, failures and unexpected limitations.

– Could interesting opportunities and detours present themselves as options? Sometimes taking another route for a while can provide unconsidered, exciting directions to move in, ways that perhaps would not have previously been thought viable. It’s not always necessary to move directly from A to B; sometimes trying out other options, exploring new ways of working can be fun and offer invaluable experiences.

It’s important to have situations that prompt us to recall the good times, the successes and positive results. It’s at those times that we can reflect on our skills and talents and dig deep, knowing that we have the resources, contacts and experience to overcome challenges and move forward. Then we can enjoy the opportunities that present themselves when life doesn’t go to plan.