What Type of Travel Insurance Is Best for Digital Nomads

Is travel insurance necessary? What kind of travel insurance is best for digital nomads?

If you’re like most travelers, both seasoned or new to the international travel scene, it’s likely that these questions have crossed your mind!

Read on to see if travel insurance is right for you and the company I personally use and recommend.

Rule of Thumb: Always Get Travel Insurance

Sometimes I love being spontaneous with travel, and other times I prefer to plan ahead! One thing I never skip in my travel planning process, though, is travel insurance.

I learned this the hard way years ago when I was working in Italy and had to go to a doctor a few times. My naive self didn’t realize that my health plan back home didn’t cover the costs abroad…#facepalm so I had to pay out-of-pocket!

When you’re off on adventures in foreign countries, you want to be covered should anything happen.

Personally, I tend to do more adventurous activities while traveling compared to being at home. Plus, having coverage for travel delays etc. can be really helpful!

Travel Insurance I Pay For and Use: SafetyWing

SafetyWing is currently one of the most recommended travel insurance companies out there.

Many people I know jumped ship from World Nomads to SafetyWing in the last few years due to SafetyWing being a more affordable and more well-rounded option.

I haven’t personally used World Nomads so I can’t vouch for that personally, but I have used a LOT of other companies over the years (pretty much whatever add-on the airline had when booking flights) and don’t see myself leaving SafetyWing anytime soon.

Benefits of SafetyWing Compared to (Pretty Much) Everyone Else

As a digital nomad, I sometimes plan extended trips for an indefinite amount of time. My most recent trip was almost four months long of non-stop travel, and I only planned 2-4 weeks in advance.

Having SafetyWing was super helpful because I didn’t need to set up a finalized itinerary or dates in advance (since I didn’t have everything booked). Being able to go with the flow and have coverage wherever I am in the world is really helpful.

Whether or not you are a digital nomad, here are some benefits that SafetyWing has that not all other travel insurance companies cover:

Open-ended subscription (monthly billing); cancel at any time. This is really nice for anyone traveling long-term without an end date or for expats living in a foreign country without local health insurance.
COVID-19 coverage - and stating the amount of money it covers in COVID-19 related expenses. This is something many countries have required since the pandemic. Most travel insurance companies either don’t include expenses related to COVID-19 or don’t state the dollar amount of coverage they include. Certain countries require this information stated on your policy, which is where SafetyWing wins.)
Helpful and quick customer support for inquiries regarding the claims process. I really appreciated the live support chat option that was mobile-friendly when I was stuck in Abu Dhabi (see more details below), since I could access the chat for free via Wi-Fi, and calling a company would rack up international charges.

Filing a Claim with SafetyWing/World Trips

Recently, I had a 2-day travel delay and rebooking when I was flying from Europe to Asia via the Middle East. I was held up in Abu Dhabi for two nights - something I did not plan in advance. It was quite a surprise and left me scrambling to update my plans for my final destination, Bali.

Luckily, the SafetyWing customer support chat gave me a speedy response on what was included during this delay (hotel and food) and the steps for filing the claim.

They sent the claim instructions and chat receipts to my email so I could refer back to the information later.

Customer service was quick and helpful, and I received my reimbursements from all eligible expenses related to the claim.

Do I Recommend SafetyWing?

Yes, I do recommend SafetyWing travel insurance!

After trying a bunch of companies over the years - yes, a lot of companies since I travel internationally about half of the year - SafetyWing is my favorite due to its wide range of coverage (it seemed to be the only one I could use for entering Chile last March!).

It is set up really well for digital nomads which is why I recommend it and why I continue to pay for it when I am on the road.

Learn more about Safetywing, the full list of what it offers, and get a quote for your trip, here or use the handy calculator below:

Save this for later on Pinterest!

This post includes affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission through these links at no extra cost to you. This helps keep the blog up and running so I can continue to provide free content! I personally pay for SafetyWing on my own dime and will continue to do so regardless of being an affiliate, as it is my travel insurance of choice.