Are you thinking about becoming a digital nomad and have no idea how to go about travel insurance? Or are you currently on the road and are looking for peace of mind in terms of travel and emergency medical insurance?
SafetyWing is the PERFECT low-cost solution for digital nomads with no home base.
I have been a digital nomad traveling the world full-time and running my online business for the past 6+ years now, and SafetyWing is what I have been using for the past 3 years. I personally love having the peace of mind knowing that if anything goes wrong, I am covered.
In this blog post, I’m going to go over key features and benefits of being insured while traveling outside of your home country! This post has affiliate links, which means if you purchase a product I get a commission at no cost to you. I only promote products and services that I personally buy and use myself.
If you would like to learn how to start your own blog so you can make money traveling the world, check out my comprehensive blog post here on how to get started.
Understanding the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
Back when I was working a corporate job, the concept of being a digital nomad was a dream. I remember when my co-worker showed me an article about people working from co-working spaces in Bali, and I instantly knew that’s what I wanted in life.
Being a digital nomad means leveraging technology and the internet to grow your business online and/or work remotely. Obviously, I’m a little biased and I always encourage my students and clients to start their own business in order to achieve time, location, and financial freedom. You can find out more in the Digital Nomad Society.
With this lifestyle, you are traveling very frequently, and you honestly never know what is going to happen.
In order to be at ease with the unknown, several factors come into play, and one is reliable travel and health insurance. Over the past few years, having travel and health insurance has given me the peace of mind to carry on with activities I love, like surfing!
So the main reasons why digital nomads need specialized travel insurance are:
- We are not based in one country and need international coverage
- We need to be able to sign up for new coverage while outside of the country
- We need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario: from losing our luggage to getting hurt abroad
Key Features of SafetyWing
SafetyWing is a global travel medical insurance company designed by nomads, for nomads. Therefore, it is engrained in their ethos to be adaptable and resilient. It is an amazing choice for digital nomads because it offers coverage in more than 180 countries, so you’re most likely covered in whatever destination you choose to go to next (even if you haven’t decided yet)!
They also offer insurance for remote teams and comprehensive health insurance. I have no experience with those services (yet!), so I will be only covering Insurance for Nomads in this article.
SafetyWing can be purchased while you’re already abroad, covers home trip visits, and operates like a monthly subscription. Considering we just experienced a pandemic a few years ago, health issues and protecting your health are more important than ever. It covers COVID-19-related medical costs, so if you’re traveling or working remotely, you can rest assured that you are covered if you get sick.
Benefits I LOVE for Digital Nomads
Affordability
The one main selling point for SafetyWing that I love is how affordable it is for flexible coverage. Depending on your residency and age, they are able to provide you with a quote, but I personally pay $45.08 USD/month.
I’ve signed up for insurance plans that cost upward of a few thousand per year, and others where you have to select exactly which countries you are planning to go to in order to get a quote for coverage. With SafetyWing, you can get a quote immediately and sign up without needing to provide anything too complicated. There are no strings attached and you can cancel anytime. All you have to do is choose the coverage length that suits your travels, whether it’s a long weekend getaway, gap year, or full-time travel.
Easy Sign-Up Process
As an online business owner and full-time traveler, time is so important as there are a million and one things that are always going on. Keeping track of all the things on the never-ending to-do list can be hard enough already! Which is why SafetyWing offers a quick and easy sign up process that takes just a few clicks. You don’t need to wait to get a quote or callback, and you can be signed up within the next 10 minutes if you wanted to.
SafetyWing also doesn’t make you choose a home address, which means you don’t need to pretend to have a permanent residence. As they were founded by nomads, they understand your current address can change on a whim!
Peace of Mind
SafetyWing insurance ultimately gives me peace of mind when traveling, which is so important to me. The other great thing is they offer coverage for trips back home when you want to go see friends and family for the holidays. This is capped at 15 days if you are a US-resident per 3-month coverage period, or 30 days per 3-month coverage period if you are a non-US resident.
If anything were to go wrong, you also receive 24/7 assistance from the SafetyWing team so you can get help and ask any questions when needed, no matter where in the world or what time zone you’re in.
This basically translates to: I know I’m always covered if an airline loses my luggage, or *knock on wood* get hurt in an accident abroad – which is amazing!
What’s Included?
Next, let’s go through exactly what is included in SafetyWing coverage when you travel. The main one that I find valuable being: emergency medical travel insurance. This one is a big one, because you NEVER know when something can happen while abroad. Things like unexpected illnesses, or getting hurt in a car accident. SafetyWing covers you for eligible expenses like a hospital visit, doctor consultations, or medications.
A big one for me is scooter accidents, as I spent a lot of time in Indonesia where driving on the roads can be hectic! As long as you have a proper license and are wearing a helmet, they will cover expenses related to injuries.
This doesn’t apply to me as I am a US resident, but if you’re NOT a US resident, you can also add on a $20/month Adventure Sports coverage, that would cover high-risk sports like surfing. Unfortunately they don’t offer this if you’re an American citizen!
For trip interruption, SafetyWing covers $5,000, and if you’re stuck somewhere for the night, they cover $100 per day for two days.
Sometimes, airlines will lose your luggage, so Nomad Insurance will cover $3,000 per insurance period, $500 per item, with a lifetime reimbursement of $6,000.
For natural disasters that cause you to switch accommodation, you’re covered with up to $100/day for 5 days. Political unrest is also covered up to $10,000. And lastly, you’re covered for up to $25,000 for third-party injury or property, plus up to $2,500 for related third-party property.
So basically, from losing your luggage to having to go home for the unexpected, SafetyWing’s Nomad Travel Insurance gives you peace of mind, knowing you can have fun and enjoy and be covered if the unthinkable happens.
Conclusion
For a low-cost, reliable, safety net while traveling, SafetyWing is what I would personally vote as #1 for digital nomads! With their global coverage, flexibility, location-independent focus, and 24/7 support, you’ll definitely want to purchase this before you head abroad.
I hope you enjoy your trips while covered! I promise you’ll be so much more carefree, and you won’t regret it.
Let me know if you have any questions!
