Travel Insurance

We have found a few little gems recently whilst sorting out last minute bits for our trip. After the nightmare we’ve experienced with STA Travel and their very unwillingness to help us with our insurance claim we decided to go a little more budget on the travel insurance side of things. This time round we have a joint policy that we can amend and update as we travel. There are small administration fees for these changes but Backpacker Travel Insuarance offer a comprehensive cover within their Premier Cover policy, and we have paid over 50% less than what we did with STA and bumped up our Sports grade to level 2 within this price. Okay so nothing has gone wrong so far, but after our previous experience we asked ourselves a series of questions ensuring we knew what we wanted from our travel insurance. So far Backpackers is ticking all our boxes!

We figured most people in China must climb the cliff!

Airbnb!

Something else that has got us a little excited is the wonder of Airbnb! We have booked through Airbnb for our travels in LA and Seattle meaning we have been able to source so far 3 different types of accommodation for our stay in the USA. This was pretty important for Venice Beach as Helen’s yoga course is daily and we didn’t want to be faced with big travel times and steep accommodation costs (a dorm room is cheaper but we’re in the area for 11 days so we don’t want to be sharing ourselves that much!!). We’re staying very close to the beach and even have our own bathroom as well as a host who is a superfoods expert!

Airbnb means we can stay with the locals, in a local area and avoid the high costs even hostels have in these busy places. We also want to live like a local does! It’s a little like couch-surfing but you pay to stay in someone’s spare room. Payment is through Airbnb and the person whose room we could be renting wont get paid until we check in. We’re looking forward to this alternative experience and for finding out about things going on away from the tourist trap. We think we’ll book through when accommodation is pricey in the western countries and we fancy a nosy at someone’s home! ha ha!

We just wanted to write a quick post regarding the visa & camera insurance for the trip. It’s been really difficult getting insurance for a full year from either of our own camera insurers; Photoguard & Towergate. Although they offer great insurance for UK & worldwide, their trip coverage is limited to either 90 days or 6 months & so this has left us with an issue of finding a company who will insure us for what we want for as long as we want. After some research I came across Aaduki camera insurance who were really helpful & guess what…? They offer insurance for a year worldwide. They also have a very comprehensive cover that enables us to backpack, train travel, walk, drive, run, cycle etc & not be too worried about how our cameras are being ported around! Downsizing has also given us a little freedom on the cost front, yes we still have equipment to cover, but by not having 3 lenses each & two professional DSLR bodies with us means that the cost of our gear is less, along with the size, the weight & the premium for insurance!

With regards to the visas, we just wanted to point out how easy it was to file our own visa applications for China & Vietnam. We printed off the forms from the embassy websites & sent off with our passports, within 2 weeks of sending for both we have both visas sorted & at a much lower price than going through a 3rd party or travel agent. The Chinese forms were far more comprehensive than the Vietnamese one & the only thing that came up is that when traveling into Hong Kong from mainland China & then back into mainland means that you need 2 entries. It also means that each entry is valid for 60 days! It is more costly to have a multiple entry visa, but this gives us the flexibility of going in & out of mainland China.The Vietnamese tourist visa is for 30 days single entry, for Cambodia & Laos you can have up to 30 days on entry & for Thailand we’ll be sorting out a 90 day visa once we reach Laos.

So that’s the informative part done with! I hope it’s been insightful!

After our little chat that night in the pub we decided that we would need to do some research. How long do we want to go for?  Where do we want to go? How much money will we need? And the list goes on.

Dave started emailing me routes whilst I was sat at home editing the weeks photographic work, a map using Star Alliance saw us plan a route from Tokyo making our way south-east across Asia down through to Australia & New Zealand eventually flying home from New York. We figured out that if we want to do this properly then a year would be a good amount of time to do what we want to do. Toying with round the world tickets, which did seem like a really good option, we decided that we didn’t want to be fixed into a route, or a time frame, instead allowing for more freedom & flexibility with our ideas & plans.

So we have booked a one way ticket to Tokyo to leave on the 18th October leaving in style with Lufthansa from Manchester airport. The plan so far is that we’ll spend a fortnight or so in Japan before heading across to China & that’s all we need to know right now. At this point we don’t know whether we will fly or sail to China, but it’s defintely something we need to look further into. I love the idea of doing as much overland as we can. I guess this way hopefully we get to see more & if we want to stay in a place for longer then we can. We may hear about places & recommendations that may be of interest to us that are more off the beaten tourist track, so we feel this gives us the flexibility.

With our flight booked the pressure has been relieved a little. Referring to our Lonely Planet – First Time Around the World, at this moment in time we seem to be on track!! The next thing we need to book… Travel Insurance; a meeting with David at Leicester’s STA Travel has given us lots to think about & comparing STA with other insurance for backpackers they stand out, offering the most comprehensive cover & at the best price. Our other items of interest; travel guide books so we can start reading into places more thoroughly & have a better understanding of where we want to go & why. To start with we are taking The Lonely Planet series for Japan & China, along with Japan by Rail by Trailblazer Publications. This last publication is proving to be a very useful tool & I’m sure is going to be very handy with planning our rail routes across Japan. The plan is to post back our guide books as we travel so that we can build up our collection & pick up second hand books from hostels & bookshops as we go.

We have lots of reading to do & are in the process of deciding on camera gear & vaccination advice – what cameras do we take? What injections do we need? Other things on our minds… When does Dave want to hand in his notice from work? And I am hoping to rent my house out whilst we are away so I have to start thinking about estate agents & getting all my gear back to mum & dad’s… Yes lot’s to think about.