Constantly Changing Countries? This Is the Insurance We Use
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If you are a digital nomad like us, a backpacker, or a full-time traveler, you will be used to constantly moving between countries.
It is all part of the lifestyle, and while exciting, not my favourite part of travel because of the logistics.
One of the challenges is finding reliable and affordable travel medical insurance for long-term travel that covers you wherever you go.
Traditional insurance providers want to know so many details! When does your trip start? When will it end? What countries will you visit? Our answer to all these questions is: “We don’t know!” 🤷
We have been living this way for over 6 years now. Changing countries every few weeks and not knowing where we will be in a few months.
So we need flexible insurance that covers all our crazy travel adventures, medical treatments, and accidents without the restrictions of regular insurance options.
Luckily, because of the rise in the number of digital nomads, companies like SafetyWing have stepped in to create plans for long-term travelers like us.
Disclosure: We partnered with SafetyWing for this article. We’ve been using their insurance plan for 4+ years and only work with companies we trust and recommend. All opinions and experiences expressed are our own.
Why Standard Insurances Don’t Work
If you cross borders often, standard travel medical insurance won’t be an option. They are created for holidaymakers and usually only cover one destination for a fixed period of time.
Require a Return Date
Most insurance companies require a departure and return date for your trip coverage. Worst, some say in their terms that their policy only covers you if you have a valid return ticket.
But if you are constantly switching countries like us, there is a high chance that you don’t have a ticket home.
When we first started travelling together, we didn’t go home for 2 years. We met in Mexico during the pandemic, which was an uncertain time for travel for everyone.
So we could not be covered by traditional insurance because we had no idea when we would return to our home countries.
Our first year as digital nomads in Mexico where we needed insurance
You Need to List Countries in Advance
Usually, you need to specify every country you intend to visit on your trip. But if you travel like us, this is not possible.
For example, 3 years ago, we were housesitting in Grenada in the Caribbean, and we chose to fly to Colombia simply because it was the cheapest flight out of the country.
We booked this flight a month before the departure date, so there would have been no chance of listing Colombia in our policy before the start of our initial trip.
Crossing borders regularly (and spontaneously!) makes it almost impossible to let any insurance provider know in advance where you will be.
A workaround could be to buy a new policy for every country you are in, but that sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare and would probably leave gaps in your coverage or not even work because you are already traveling.
So you need to get worldwide coverage with no end date.
You Can’t Buy Them Abroad
Another issue we faced when we became digital nomads in Mexico was that we were already abroad.
But most insurance policies require you to be in your home country before the trip starts.
That’s why we didn’t have insurance for a while. Both of our traditional travel health insurance plans had run out and we were stuck between seats.
That’s when we went on a quest to find options that suit our nomadic lifestyle.
Luckily, while comparing the best insurance plans for nomads, we found out that most of them can be purchased while already abroad!
No Home Country Coverage
This one is important, especially for digital nomads!
Traditional travel medical insurance offers no coverage in your home country. Worse, they sometimes terminate your policy because you are “ending” your trip.
For me, as a New Zealander, this is no problem because I get medical care at home simply by being a citizen.
But Katharina, as an Austrian citizen, does not automatically get health care in Austria. So when we visit her family, it is super important that her coverage doesn’t stop.
Losing coverage in your home country is often the case even with insurance made specifically for digital nomads, which is one of the reasons we use SafetyWing – where we get up to 30 days of home coverage every 90 days.
When you are constantly on the move, you never know when you will have the urge or need to return home. Whether that be for a family emergency or just to see friends and family.
So the best plans will keep you covered for these quick trips home.
Once a year we visit our home countries Austria & New Zealand
Why Digital Nomad Insurances Work
Since standard insurance plans don’t work if you are constantly changing countries like us, your best option is to choose insurance designed for nomads and long-term travel.
You don’t need to be a remote worker to sign up. You can also be a backpacker, taking a gap year or simply be a traveler with no end date. These policies are built for anyone living a lifestyle on the move.
But even then, you have to look out for and compare specific features to make sure that all your travel and medical needs are covered.
Worldwide Health Coverage
The best part of long-term travel insurance plans is that you are covered worldwide, no matter which country you are traveling to.
It usually doesn’t matter how long you are staying there or how many countries you visit each year. You are covered even if you visit 1, 20 or 100 countries a year.
The only usual exception is the United States. Most companies charge extra if you need coverage there.
Since we don’t travel there often, we just pay for worldwide coverage except for the United States. That keeps our monthly fee low and if we need coverage there, we just add it to our next monthly payment in the SafetyWing App. Simple as that!
Another caveat is coverage in your home country. Most plans won’t cover you there or will only do so for a limited time. So if you need it, make sure you check this part of the policy.
Subscription Payment
What I value most is simplicity and flexibility when it comes to payment and policy renewal.
I don’t want to be locked into a fixed itinerary, because as a digital nomad I don’t know when my trip will end or when I will decide to change paths.
Some insurance providers also change the price depending on the length of your trip or the countries you visit.
So I look for plans that offer a flat monthly rate that auto-renews and does not change in price, no matter what country I am in.
That way, I never have to think about my coverage twice. I just sign up once and my insurance plan gets deducted from my bank account every month like a Netflix subscription.
That’s what I like about SafetyWing. It lets us pause, cancel or restart our insurance at any point, making it a super flexible option.
Sign Up from Anywhere
You might already be traveling as we were when we needed insurance. In that case, being able to sign up from anywhere in the world is crucial.
This is where insurance plans for digital nomads really shine, because they don’t require you to be in your home country when signing up for their policies.
Travel Delays and Lost Luggage
If you are moving between countries often, there is a higher chance that you will have travel delays or lose luggage.
It sounds unbelievable, but we have never had a flight delay of more than 1 hour in over 6 years! We have also never had any luggage lost together.
Katharina always says I am her lucky charm because when she was traveling solo, she had multiple flight delays and lost luggage in Kenya.
We also know from other digital nomad friends that this happens regularly. So it is best to be covered for travel-related issues for extra peace of mind.
With SafetyWing, you can also add extra coverage for electronic theft to your monthly payments, which is great if you travel with a big tech stack.
We personally don’t because our MacBooks and DSLR camera are super old and we want to keep our monthly costs low. But it’s cool to know that this option exists if we ever decide to upgrade.
Passport Replacement
The more borders you cross, the more likely you are to lose your passport. That’s why you’ll see this as a perk of some long-term travel health insurances.
This will probably not happen to us because we are so obsessed with not losing it. During travels, I always have my hand on the pocket where the passport is and Katharina even checks on the passports regularly when we are in an Airbnb for a month.
But if you do lose your passport, it can be super stressful.
We have both met multiple people while travelling who have lost their passports and needed our help while they were waiting for their embassy appointment.
So if this is something that’s important to you, check if it’s covered in the policy.
Why We Use SafetyWing
For the last 4+ years of our full-time nomad life, we have been insured with SafetyWing, no matter how many countries we visit each year.
It was founded by a team of Norwegians building a kind of social safety net for the digital generation, with travel and medical insurance as the first product in that vision.
Instead of locking you into fixed time frames, their Nomad Insurance Essential Plan auto-renews every 28 days, like a gym membership.
You can cancel, pause or restart this subscription anytime and sign up to it from anywhere in the world, even if you are already traveling.
No end date or list of visiting countries needed!
You only need to fill out your home country (which is where you are a citizen) and decide whether to include U.S. coverage.
We don’t need any extra coverage, so I pay $62.72 USD every 4 weeks. That’s about $2 a day for complete peace of mind!
What’s Included in Nomad Insurance Essential
SafetyWing’s Essential Plan covers you worldwide up to $250,000 USD for any new medical issues like accidents, hospital stays, surgeries and medication.
It comes with a $0 deductible, which is great, because when we first signed up, the deductible was $250.
We were in Mexico at that time and Katharina had a minor surgery on her toe. The claim went through, but it pretty much cost that much, so we had to pay most of it out of pocket. Luckily not anymore.
The Essential Plan also covers us for lost luggage, travel disruptions, emergency evacuations, and travel delays.
Depending on your home country and whether you pay monthly or yearly, you also get up to 30 days of home country coverage every 90 days – one of the main reasons we keep renewing with SafetyWing.
Since I don’t need home coverage in New Zealand and prefer subscription payments, I stuck with the subscription.
But Katharina jumped on the newly introduced yearly option, where she saves 10%, gets 90 days a year of home coverage and a $150 preloaded debit card for minor claims.
Pretty sweet for all-round travel medical insurance!
Or get covered worldwide within minutes, too 👇
What’s Included in Nomad Insurance Complete
We haven’t used this option yet, but if you want similar healthcare to what you would have at home, then you should check out SafetyWing’s Complete Plan.
For $177.50 USD per month, you aren’t just covered for travel and medical emergencies worldwide, but also for regular doctor check-ups, chiropractor appointments, psychologist visits and cancer treatments.
You also get extra travel insurance perks like burglary, canceled accommodation and delayed luggage coverage.
Depending on your home country, there is no home-country coverage restriction in terms of days spent there, which could be a great incentive for digital nomads or travelers who aren’t full-time on the road but are still moving a lot.
Like SafetyWing’s Essential Plan, you can pay monthly, add extra coverage for the United States and electronics and save 10% if you opt for the annual payment.
You will also get a prepaid debit card to make direct payments to providers for small amounts, avoiding any out-of-pocket expenses.
It’s a super convenient and, as far as I know, unique option to get full health insurance as a traveler beyond the essential travel medical needs.
Who is SafetyWing Best For?
In my opinion, SafetyWing is best for young digital nomads, backpackers, and long-term travelers who want to change countries as much as they can without any extra admin and skyrocketing costs.
I love how simple and easy it is to sign up. Nothing is more boring than reading pages of insurance policies that all seem to be written by the same lawyer.
SafetyWing cuts to the chase and explains in simple terms what’s included and what’s not. Within 15 minutes, I had my coverage sorted. It literally doesn’t take more than that to understand, choose and sign up for a plan.
Their plans are also great for slowmads because they are open-ended and your possessions will be covered while you travel, which is crucial if you work on the road.
SafetyWing’s worldwide subscription model puts our minds at ease, no matter how many borders we cross. Plus, the $0 deductible means that we never have to think twice before visiting a local clinic if we have any issues.
When moving between countries, we already have so many things to think about. We are constantly trying to find the cheapest flights, looking for the perfect Airbnb, sorting out visas and eSIMs, or simply figuring out where to buy our groceries.
It’s nice to know that being insured in case something goes wrong isn’t another thing on our to-do list, especially when we don’t know where we will be next month.
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