#might cave and buy it from somewhere abroad
Text
Yellow raspberries are here.
My orange raspberry bush died over winter. I don't know what went wrong, I've had is for a few years and it didn't seem to have any illness. Anyway, I really, really want to get a Double Gold raspberry in its place, but for now I can't find one anywhere.
#might cave and buy it from somewhere abroad#yellow raspberries#berries#berry garden#gardeners on tumblr#grow your own food#gardenblr#edible gardening#garden#gardenblog#gardening#gardencore#raspberries
155 notes
·
View notes
Note
Did Ivan and Fedyor ever have, like, one of those big first fights where there is this uncertainty of "are we over now?" ? I mean, they would be alright in the end, but between Fedyor's overthinking and Ivan probably not having a lot of experience with relationships, there would be room for them worrying for a time after it.
Sequel to this and prequel to this. Set, as usual, in Phantom!Verse.
Moscow, 2013
June 30, 2013, is not a good day. In fact, it might be the worst of all the days of Fedyor Kaminsky’s life to date, and it is made absolutely no better by the fact that he’s long known it was coming – he just hoped, however vainly, that it wouldn’t. Three weeks ago, on June eleventh, the Duma unanimously passed the law formally entitled “For the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating For a Denial of Traditional Family Values,” with only one abstention and no dissenting votes, and President Putin is going to ceremoniously sign it into law today. It’s more pithily known as the “anti-gay law,” and it basically prohibits anything related to acknowledging that homosexuals exist in Russia. Fedyor has been anxiously following its progress with his activist friends in their group chats, all of them praying for some last-minute miracle to swoop in and knock it off course. Now that’s not going to happen. He has no idea what is going to happen, but to say the least, it won’t be good. He’s taken some body blows before, but this one sucks.
Fedyor vacillates wildly between wanting to watch the signing ceremony just to scream obscenities at it, and wanting to hide under the covers with the pillows over his head and cry. He texts frenetically with his friend Lyosha, who lost his position at Perm State University a few months ago for daring to do research about LGBTQ people, and is already planning to head into exile abroad. Does he have to do that too? Fedyor has lived in Russia his entire life, even if he has traveled internationally and has lots of foreign friends. He could stay. He could try to fight this thing somehow. He could do more. He should do more.
But how?
When Ivan gets home from work at six o’clock that night, that’s where he finds Fedyor: sitting on the living room floor under a quilt and neurotically eating chocolate biscuits, texting and crying. He drops his backpack and rushes over. “Fedya? Fedya! What’s wrong?”
“He signed it,” Fedyor says flatly. No more elaboration is necessary. “So now we’re fucked.”
Ivan looks troubled. He rocks back on his heels next to Fedyor and searches for the words. Then he says, clearly trying to be helpful, “Maybe not. Nobody has to know about us. If we just keep on like before, go about our daily lives, it will be all right. We are not important people. Why would they bother with us?”
“What?” Fedyor wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and lurches upright, shedding the quilt and a shower of cookie crumbs. “What are you talking about? Just – deny ourselves and go back in the closet and pretend we’re not here, that those assholes won? Go out, but make sure I never hold your hand walking down the street or dare to pretend that we are together? I don’t want to be afraid every second we’re out in public, Vanya! I don’t want to be wondering if maybe they’ll look at my emails or cook up some other reason to come after us! Lyosha already got fired before this even officially passed, and – ”
“Lyosha was a radical beforehand,” Ivan says dismissively. “It wasn’t because of this, I’m sure. So what? He’ll get a fancy position somewhere else. The West will love to take in the gay Russian, persecuted by the barbaric Putin regime, to show off how humane and enlightened they think they are. He will be fine.”
Fedyor looks at him as if he has two heads. “That’s how you’re reacting to this?”
“What am I supposed to do about it?” Ivan shrugs. “We have to make the best. What else are we going to do? Leave Russia?”
“Maybe we have to. What other choice do we have?”
“Stay?” Now it’s Ivan’s turn to sound like he’s talking nonsense. “Russia is our home!”
“Look, Vanya. I know you and I think differently about things, and we’ve gotten used to that. But I can’t – I physically cannot – stay in a place where I am criminalized for existing, for loving you, for being afraid that something will happen to us. We have to go.”
“No.” Ivan’s voice is colder than Fedyor has ever heard it. He sounds like a stranger. “No, we don’t. That’s crazy talk. Where would we go? America?”
“At least America doesn’t have this law!”
“America has no law that is helpful for us!” Ivan shouts. “And I’m not going there. The end! You make that choice, Fedya. Exile, or me?”
There’s a horrible silence in the wake of that pronouncement, as they stare at each other and Ivan instantly looks like he wants to bite it back, but it’s too late. Fedyor turns on his heel and marches away in frozen silence, refusing to utter a single word to Ivan for the rest of the night, even as Ivan tries to apologize and coax him into speaking again. Finally, taking the hint, he takes his things and silently goes to sleep on the couch, and Fedyor lies in their bed, staring at the ceiling and tossing and turning. Ivan didn’t mean that, right? Or maybe he did? Flee Russia, start a new life somewhere across the sea, but leave his boyfriend behind? Until recently, he thought Ivan Sakharov was the love of his life. Maybe he isn’t. Or even more terrifyingly, he is, and Fedyor will have to give him up anyway.
The rest of the week is just as bad. Ivan leaves early for work and keeps to himself when he gets home, while Fedyor starts Googling the U.S. asylum-claim process and reaching out to North American-based friends who can help with logistics. He spends hours on the computer, takes reams of notes, and doesn’t feel any better. Is he planning this for them or for him? He needs to answer that question like, now, and yet the prospect fills him with sickening dread. He cries himself to sleep with the bedroom door shut, and hears awkward shuffling in the corridor outside, like Ivan is listening and desperately wants to come in, but doesn’t think Fedyor wants him there. That’s even worse.
Finally, on Saturday night, Fedyor decides that they can’t go on like this. He drags himself out of his cave of blankets and cooks a nice supper, while Ivan goes for his usual afternoon workout at the gym, and when he comes back, he blinks. “Fedya? What’s this about?”
“We need…” Fedyor’s throat is a desert. “We need to talk about us.”
Those six little words are usually the kiss of death in any relationship, and he has no idea what’s about to happen next, but Ivan’s face wrenches in half like a torn piece of paper. He opens his mouth, shuts it, shakes his head furiously, and comes to a sudden and unassailable decision. With that, still in his gym clothes, he drops his bag and goes to one knee on the creaky wooden floor of their kitchen, in this humble sixth-floor Moscow flat that is the first place Fedyor ever knew pure and perfect happiness. “Okay,” he says. “How is this for a start. Fedyor Mikhailovich Kaminsky, will you marry me?”
Fedyor stares at him, utterly blankly, seized with the horrible fear that Ivan is making fun of him. “Have you – are you – are you serious?”
“Yes.” Ivan reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. “I wanted to do this in a different way, but maybe this is better. Fedya, I don’t – I can’t – I don’t want to live without you. I’ll even move to America if you want to. I’m no good without you. I can’t. Please.”
Fedyor continues to stare at him. Then finally he moves closer, as Ivan holds out the ring with a look of utter, silent entreaty, his heart wrung out and raw in his eyes. “Are you – ” Fedyor’s voice is a whisper. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Ivan says again, strong and steady. “More than I have ever been about anything.”
Fedyor starts to answer, and simply can’t. He starts to shake from head to toe, and Ivan scoots forward, still on his knees, and wraps both arms around Fedyor’s waist, burying his face in Fedyor’s stomach. Fedyor clutches hold of him and sinks down, the two of them barely making a sound. Finally, he whispers, “You hate America.”
“I don’t,” Ivan says. “Not really. But either way, I love you, Fedya. And I’m choosing that.”
Fedyor grips Ivan’s face in his hands and kisses him thoroughly, then remembers that he still technically hasn’t accepted his proposal, and he should do that. He holds out his right hand so Ivan can slip on the plain band, with the promise to buy him a nicer one once they get to wherever they’re going. He’ll help with arrangements, he promises. Whatever Fedyor needs him to do.
They board an Aeroflot flight, Moscow Sheremetyevo–New York JFK, on the evening of August 3, 2013, with all their worldly belongings either in the cargo hold or waiting to be shipped over by Fedyor’s parents. They hold hands in the terminal, unobtrusively, and when they get on the plane. And even as the jet engines roar into takeoff and the lights of his homeland fall away into the clouds for what might be the last time in who knows how long, Fedyor Kaminsky can’t help but feeling, once again, ready to start anew.
#ivan x fedyor#heartrender husbands#fivan#a phantom in enchanting light#pel asks#anonymous#ask#fivan ff
51 notes
·
View notes
Text
When in Iceland we had our camping plans disrupted upon our return back last year. We had split up our trip in half to see my parents in Ireland. So the first half was magical and the second half felt like we had the rug pulled from under us.
British Airways lost the bag we checked with our tent. When we arrived from our lengthy layover in London, we were rightfully pissed off because we had to stay in an entirely different city than I planned. The only positive was that we didn’t reserve our campsite. I wanted us to travel to the south of Iceland and camp in the countryside. Instead of letting my head explode, we made lemonade out of lemons and stayed at Alex’s Guest house. It’s a little motel with outdoor cabins less than half a mile from the airport. We got lucky and were able to book a night there in an outdoor cabin until our bag arrived.
We ended up walking because anyone in the airport we asked to call for our motel shuttle, told us we needed to buy a SIM card. Of all the countries I’ve been there’s never been a lack of willingness to make a local call so that was a bit shocking.
Our second arrival impression of the airport was a disappointment that even the miles of the fields of Alaskan lupine flowers couldn’t soften.
A part of me understood that it must be hard to see the leagues of frat boys and their sorority cohorts arriving with zero regard for their culture, but it kind of saddened me that the chance for hospitality as a traveler is being tainted.
In my post on the Blue Lagoon, I briefly mentioned the frat bros who arrived in American flag speedos that almost ruined a peaceful day in such a beautiful place. It was a disgusting show that no one appreciated. And I’m sure at peak travel times, the shows of tourist stupidity are overwhelming.
Beyond the airport, however, it was a nice breathe of fresh air to be somewhere so uncrowded and unlike a tourist trap. There weren’t many cars once we got near the motel and as we kept working further after check-in, it was entirely peaceful.
We had spent a lot of time in crowded airports and hotels and tours so this was surreal. The midnight sun and a coast to explore. We ended up finding a boat, the Baldur, that was brought on land and completely open to exploration, and at the end of a private pier, there was a cave devoted to a mythic, child eating, giant. Giant footprints led up to the exhibit. There was even an actual robotic giant in a dark ‘cave’ behind bars and it was all very awesome. Outside there was this pop up that we took a picture in. The gender role switch was unintentional 😉
For all the things that went poorly on our spur of the moment trip, it was certainly filled with some amazing and unusual finds off of the beaten path. We enjoyed the structure of taking bus tours and certainly loved not having to rent a car. Plus it might just be the most lovely night’s sleep to be in a cabin, in Iceland away from everything.
It took me awhile to write about Iceland and I’m certainly not even close to finished blogging about our time abroad but I’m glad none of our photos involved anything that we’d be embarrassed of.
I hope everyone is having a happy Monday and a beautiful new start to the month.
Some new products I’ve tried in my efforts to minimize all my beauty clutter have placed me in a fantastic (and inspired) mood, so expect an update on Wednesday on beauty and Friday on a quick but delicious chicken and bacon dish!!
-C
G & Explore { Keflavík } When in Iceland we had our camping plans disrupted upon our return back last year. We had split up our trip in half to see my parents in Ireland.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Day 001 - thestoryof-officially
Day 001 PROMPT - The studious sweeper fell asleep inside a secret passageway in July to rebuild the cave.
Frankly, I find this prompt to be a mouthful, and it won’t be the last one. I did what I could, but truthfully I missed the “fell asleep” part and started to rush a bit at the end of the thing. Either way, enjoy! I hope I can be of some inspiration to someone out there.
Word Count: 2,950
~~~
I stopped a moment and wiped my brow. My hand came away drenched in sweat, but that was something I had already grown used to. We were nearing the summer solstice now in the states, and, really, this was probably gonna be the hottest July I’d experienced.
That would make sense being that I come from far North. My family’s probably setting things up for winter vacation right now. I might normally be too, but I’m a study abroad student majoring in geology. I don’t know what possessed me to take summer classes, but here I am, in the middle of July, interning for a geologist 3 miles from campus.
To be honest, I was expecting to do more here than sweep away piles of dirt.
No, I’m not exaggerating. I was handed a 2 year old house broom and told to sweep away a pile of dirt, dust, weeds, and rocks. And that’s almost all I’ve been doing excepting paperwork.
I’m on my third week of the internship, and the team I was integrated into is trying to reconstruct the cavernous inside of a collapsed tunnel. Apparently it’s a very popular attraction here, or it was starting to become so. Lakes inside the mountains, rock formations, things like that. A lot of it was destroyed when an earthquake hit about a year ago. I think it’s a shame, really. There were some wicked cool mineralized spouts within, from what I’d heard, and so much sedimentation you could have told thousands of years of geological movement just by looking at the walls.
As it turns out, “reconstruct the cavernous inside of a collapsed tunnel” actually means “clear away the debris and haul it to the professionals.” All we’re doing is clearing out the rock and dirt, and we don’t even get to examine or study it.
I mean, I can’t complain. I shouldn’t, at least. I did get to see a few small things inside while helping to wheel out barrows of material, but I’m not hardly learning anything.
That doesn’t mean this doesn’t suck! This is like telling a kid you’ll take him to the candy store, but then not buying him anything. Even worse, the only candy within is a bunch of flavourless bubblegum!
Ugh. I guess it isn’t all bad. I really like my boss and my teammates. The people are nice, and the ones that seem otherwise are only as such on the outside. We all get along really well once introductions have been made.
“You have a minute, kid?” I’m pulled out of my thoughts by one such teammate- Cabe, standing at 6 foot and hiding behind a bushel of sandy, blond hair covered in dust, seems incapable of using my first name.
“Sure,” I tell him. “What is it you need?”
Cabe throws his right hand over my left shoulder, covering it entirely. Without looking away from the clipboard in his left hand, he says, “Boss says there’s another load at the upper Southwest tunnel entrance. I’m on today’s North side team, so I don’t much have the time, buddy.”
I sigh. I was only just barely getting done with this entrance’s load, now there’s another? But I guess I understand. They had the more… able-bodied men working on the North side team carrying out much larger loads, since that’s where most of the damage happened. It seems to be a particularly time consuming job, so I nod.
“Alright,” I say.
Still not meeting my eye, Cabe grins and removes his hand to walk away. “Thanks, man!” he says cheerfully.
“Yeah,” I say quietly, squinting my eyes at him and shaking my head. “Whatever the boss says.”
I finish sweeping the pile of dirt into the tray as quickly as I can, and then begin to make my way to the Southwest tunnels. I have to walk around the entire cave system since I’m not allowed inside during hauling days, but I don’t mind too bad. As much as I hate the dirt and the heat, I think I’m figuring out the outer ring of the tunnel system faster than anyone else just by having to walk around the entrances so often.
“Ozzy! Hey! Workin’ that broom today?” I pass by another one of my coworkers and he points at me, jesting.
“As much as you your rake!” I call back to him as we pass each other in opposite directions.
I see another teammate up ahead, our Diana, pulling a wheelbarrow.
“Need a hand?” I offer as I approach her. Diana smirks at me.
“Not today, Osmund, not today,” she replies. She speeds up and straightens her posture, just to elbow me as she strolls past. I laugh goodnaturedly and rub at my arm to humour her.
“You are strong,” I say. She barks a laugh and continues to walk away, and I wave at her over my shoulder.
This is a sort of game we’ve been playing between each other since we met. Diana’s very much a believer in women being seen as strong and confident, and she hates the idea that she be seen as naturally, physically weaker and in need of a man’s help. She’s very boyish in behavior, but much more intelligent than the rest of us who share that behavior, if not a little more impulsive. As is, I always pass by and ask if she wants some help, and then she always tells me no and starts to kind of show off in her own way. It’s very amusing.
I finally come to the split in the path between the upper and lower Northwest entrances, and take the one that goes uphill.
“Terrible shoes,” I mutter to myself. Every step my feet slide on the dirt path and it becomes a real chore just to get to the top.
After a moment of struggling I reach the tunnel entrance. True to Cabe’s words, there’s a massive pile of dirt ready to be swept into a bag sat beside it, which is pinned to the ground with a large rock so it doesn’t blow away. My job is to fill the bag, get the bag onto the pull-cart, and then lug the thing back to the loading bay next to our base tent.
The tunnel entrance itself, though lit by sunlight at the very front, fades into pitch black darkness the further it goes. A faint breeze blows through and ruffles the bag on the ground, as well as my hair. It feels nice but creates an eerie wheezing sound in accompaniment.
“Time to get to work,” I tell myself.
What I don’t understand about this whole thing is why they can’t just load the bag themselves after dumping the pile. Or why I can’t have a shovel to get the brunt of it. I mean, I have my dust tray, but this is still ridiculous. This pile’s half as high as I am.
So I dig the tray into the pile and fill it to overflowing. Then, I dump it into the bag. I fill the tray again. Pull up the lip of the bag. Dump it. Fill. Dump. Again.
The routine is mundane in nature and it’s very easy to grow tired of it. But it does allow for room to think. I get a lot of thinking done when I’m working like this because of how repetitive the movement is. I have to anyway, or the silence and lack of company would probably drive me insane.
Shove the tray into the pile. Pull it out. Dump it into the bag. And again. And again.
Several minutes pass and already I’m dripping with sweat. I must be seriously overworking myself if I’m this tired already; it’s only been two hours since the day started.
“Maybe I just need some shade,” I muse aloud. I walk around the pile and stand in the shade of the tunnel’s entrance, then continue my work. I become much more aware of the darkness around me because it seems almost to be a physical mass where it’s darkest, and it’s at my back.
I find myself unable to think of anything and grow frustrated. Is this seriously how the day’s going to go? Or am I just that bored?
“Alright, maybe I just need a minute to myself.” So I sling the broom over my shoulder and walk to one of the cave’s walls to lean against. “This should do.”
I pat around the wall as I lean against it and wonder if it contains any sulfuric mineralization. The texture seems so gritty in nature, and the smell is rather odd.
As I brush my fingers against the walls, I find little bits and pieces falling away and shifting, which is more odd than anything. Normally I’d think it to be dirt, but this time around the texture is just so off. It feels somehow unnatural, almost like…
Well I dunno what like. Like it had just been smothered on. Like loose makeup, which seems quite unlike anything naturally occurring in terms of geology.
“What could possibly-?”
I turn around and kneel to the ground to continue my examination of this area of wall. It glitters a little, which tells me there’s definitely quite a lot of mineral material here, but it’s inconsistent on these walls. In some cases that’s understandable, but given the high humidity and the mineral rich sources of water within these caves, it would make more sense to me that the appearance of mineralization on the surface of these walls be much more consistent.
Gently, I run my fingers over the wall, and I slowly stand to feel my way up and around the area. If I can find a textural differentiation somewhere here and determine a border for this particular occurence, maybe I can–
That rock just moved. It shifted a little, inwardly. Is this more damage done by the earthquake? Maybe a collection of loosened rocks that simply fit together as opposed to a tunnel wall?
If that’s the case I need to inform my superiors immediately! This could mean the walls are very unstable and need re-examining! There may be much more here to uncover than we initially thought, which would make sense given this wide area of rock that I can find no other entrances for–
I should back away from the wall. I don’t want it to shift too much or fall loose- not only would that ruin my work with this load, but it could potentially cause great injury to my personage, which is something I would very much like to avoid-
Except that nothing else shifted. Just the one rock. If I test it again, maybe it’s just a chunk in the wall come loose…
So I walk carefully forward, setting my broom down on the ground, and with one hand I gently press on the same spot. The entire wall begins to move.
Er, no, just part of it. A section in the wall about twice the size of a standard door defines itself and I immediately jump away from the wall with a yelp.
But it doesn’t collapse. It doesn’t fall over. It stays there, a massive indent. I glance quickly to my left and right, confirming that I am alone, and I walk forward again. My curiousity is well and truly piqued, and so I press on the wall again. It presses easily inward and then stops. I give it an experimental push and it shifts to the left.
“I’ve got to be dreaming,” I mutter. “There’s no way this is normal.”
I clap my hands together and rub them before I hunker low to give the wall a solid push to the left. It slides away and reveals to me another opening in the system, though not before showering me in dirt- or whatever the stuff I found on the walls was.
“Hello?” I question, leaning over and sticking my head into the entrance. It’s completely dark and empty from what I can tell. After a moment, when the echo from my empty greeting has faded, I reach to my back pocket and pull out my flashlight. It’s an old, dirty, yellow thing with a dim bulb, but when I turn it on it does its job and lights up another passageway.
And this one is definitely man-made. The entire way looks to be more rectangular than any natural cave, and there are lanterns hung every 20 feet or so on the walls.
“Ah, ha, ha,” I drawl nervously. “I’m going to get into so much trouble if I do this.”
For whatever reason, that doesn’t stop me and I begin to make my way down the corridor. It just looks like a long, endless, passageway that doesn’t really go anywhere or serve any purpose. I did once see a split that went off to the left, but following it led me to a dead end.
After about ten minutes I stop walking and sigh. “This is going nowhere. I’m just wasting time.”
I begin to turn around when I hear what sounds like faint laughter. I freeze and perk my ears, listening hard for it. I must have been going insane.
Oh, but there it is again! Accompanied by two other voices!
Curiousity re-piqued, I turn around and start speed-walking down the passageway. The voices grow louder and the darkness seems to become less, and I’m so anxious to know what or who’s there that I start to run. I land on my toes with every step, careful to be as quiet as I can, but my movements are becoming clumsy.
Finally I can see a bend in the tunnel and a faint light coming from around it. I slow to a walk and then begin to tip toe, hoping to peek around the bend without being seen.
“No, no, no! I think he legitimately just thought I was being serious or he wouldn’t have done it!”
A second voice burst into laughter. “Come on man, I knew your cousin was gullible, but there’s no way! He really took them out there? In the winter?”
“Oh that’s nothing,” chimed a third voice. “You know we once convinced him that butterflies were bad luck unless you dropped to the ground and retied your shoes each time one passed?”
A small chuckle escapes my lips before I can stop it and all three voices go silent.
“What was that?”
“From back there, I think.”
I’d been discovered! I clap a hand over my mouth and turn off my flashlight, backing away from the bend and hoping that I wouldn’t be spotted in the darkness.
A figure walks around the bend and stares past me, down the passageway.
And then his eyes land on me. “Ah-ha! Found ya, you bugger! Get over here!” He gestures for me to follow in an inviting way and laughs heartily, then turns back around.
I blink in mild surprise but shrug. Quickly I jog around the corner and see that the man who approached me was one of my superiors, who I’d never spoken to before. The other two men there, sitting on logs in front of a fire were-
“Cabe? Truman?” I blurt. All three men begin to laugh, and the one in front of me sits down on one of the logs on the floor.
“Have a seat, son,” he tells me, patting another log beside him. I comply and sit down. As I do, he holds out his hand to me. “Edwin. Cabe’s brother,” he introduces himself.
“Osmund,” I say in turn, taking his hand and shaking it firmly.
“Mm. Good name. Good grip. I like you,” Edwin says. I laugh.
“So what are you guys doing down here? Where is here, anyway?” I ask. Glancing around at them I realize each has a sac of some sort.
“Lunch break,” Cabe answers. As though to make his point, he lifts a half eaten sandwich from his sac and takes a large bite.
Edwin shakes his head in amusement. “Me and a few other supervisors had this back tunnel built a couple months ago. Tons of secret doors ya gotta feel for that lead into the other tunnels on this level. Makes gettin’ around easier, but we prefer to keep it quiet. Cabe and Truman here, “ he points and Truman waves with a cheeky grin, “stumbled upon a couple of those secret doors, much as I assume you did.”
“Ah, yeah,” I say, nodding.
“Welcome to the club, man,” Truman says through a mouthful of food.
“Thanks,” I say awkwardly. “I’m not on break, though. And I don’t have a lunch with me. I should probably get back to clearing the load back at the Southwest entrance.”
“You’re gonna be such a nerd during the rest of your years at college, man,” says Truman. “Trust me, if you wanna get something from this, do like me and just enjoy your internship! It’s not all about work, you know. Any other Seniors would agree with me, I’m telling you.”
I stand up and shake my head. “Nah, man. I wanna learn something while I’m here. The fun is just a bonus.”
“Suit yourself.” Truman shrugs and goes back to eating. I smile and wave as I begin to walk away.
“I’ll see you guys later,” I say, turning back into the passageway.
“Strange fellow,” I hear Edwin say as I’m walking.
“Ah, he’s pretty chill once you get to know him,” says Cabe.
I smile again and continue to walk down the way, wondering if this means I can spend my breaks here, now. “Ah, that’s a question for another day.”
#thestoryof#thestoryof2020#thestoryof-officially#365 writing prompts#challenge#day 001#001#writing#daily#short story
0 notes
Text
caveu des oubliettes
There was something about that jazz club, a magical quality bordering on the sinister that promised a good time remembered through the haze and headache of next morning’s hangover. Le Caveau Des Oubliettes. Tucked away down a crooked and cobbled pedestrian alley in the upper West corner Paris’s fifth arrondissement, it was the perfect club to lure tourists into thinking they’d discovered a hidden hotspot, an underground local scene on a wandering night out in the City of Lights. The place was dark. The big window in the front of the bar was tinted a deep red, and the black awning that loomed over the door was emblazoned with a medieval font that during the daytime appeared cheap and corny, a nowhere place between Notre Dame and the Panthéon one might pass while getting lost. But come midnight, and the sepia glow of the streetlamps cast jagged shadows over the rough stone walls of that ancient building, silhouettes danced to muffled jazz in the dim glow of the red window, and the place transformed. It became Somewhere.
My first night at Le Caveau was a Friday in mid-September, two or three days after my arrival in Paris. By accident or some cliché fate, I had fallen into friendships with two girls who, like me, were artist-writers taking gap years or time off school to live and work in the historic Shakespeare and Company bookshop, which was located around the corner from Le Caveau. Anneli was a writer and photographer from the farmlands outside of London, and our friendship began my first day in Paris when, within five minutes of us meeting, she declared us kindred spirits on the front stoop the bookstore. She later introduced me to Jess, a poet from New Zealand, who was on fall break from an undergraduate study abroad program in Lyon. At twenty years old, Jess became mine and Anneli’s adopted big sister, for we were only eighteen and had recently finished high school.
That mid-September Friday night began with a shared bottle of cheap wine on a bridge over the Canal Saint-Martin, where I met up with Jess and Anneli at around 8pm. After a small epidemic of bedbugs had forced them out of their free lodgings at Shakespeare and Company indefinitely, they were now crashing at a friend’s apartment in the 11th, a short walk from the Canal in the Folie-Méricourt district of Paris. Lou, the tenant of the apartment, met us briefly on the bridge where Jess and Anneli introduced us, and she expressed her disappointment in being unable to join us on our night out. She had already made plans with her coworkers at the café that ajoined the bookshop, where she had befriended Jess and Anneli weeks earlier. I was immediately blown away by her inherently French beauty and her generosity in offering me a place to stay the night, in case I wound up too drunk to return to my youth hostel. She said explained that though her apartment was small, there would be plenty of room if I didn’t mind sharing a the couch with Anneli or a cot on the floor with Jess, and I happily thanked her for her kindness.
As Jess, Anneli, and I finished our bottle of wine, we discussed our plans for the evening. We were to rendezvous with Harry, a young Australian street musician who often busked in front of Shakespeare and Company and was recent acquaintance of Jess’s, before buying more wine. Then, we would wander into the nearest bar or club providing live music for a night of adventure and dancing. For my first night out in Paris, Jess and Anneli wanted to give me “an authentic experience of the city,” which would only amount to a realized dream we’d read about in books and watched countless times in our favorite movies.
An hour later, Anneli and I were following Jess to our meeting point with Harry. The Oberkampf station let out onto a corner of Boulevard Voltaire, where the Metro Café was nestled beneath a large wall mural of an ostrich that glared down at us as we danced and sang Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien” and waited for Harry to arrive. Anneli and I thought it would be funny to take off our shoes and dance barefoot on the streets of Paris, and though it was chilly, we were warm with adrenaline and cheap wine. Jess was on the phone with Harry, who had gotten lost, and she was too drunk to be giving directions. She kept saying, “Look for the ostrich! We’re dancing under the ostrich!” This sent me and Anneli into a fit of giddy laughter as we spun ourselves dizzy and wound up giggling, sprawled out on the dirty sidewalk.
“What the hell are you lot doing!” came the drunken shout from down the street. Anneli and I sat up, grinning and out of breath, as Harry ran up and greeted Jess with a hug. He turned to us and extended a hand. “Don’t you know the streets of Paris have got to be the the filthiest in all of Europe? What! Not even wearing shoes?”
He helped me and Anneli to our feet. He was already drunk as well, a tall sand-blond boy with red cheeks and an infectious smile, and as Jess introduced us another girl walked up, stunningly gorgeous and smiling expectantly.
“Guys,” Harry said, putting an arm around the girl, “This is Belle, my friend from high school. She’s visiting from Australia for the weekend, so I thought she should come along for the night’s festivities.”
We were more than glad to have another member in our party, and it wasn’t long before introductions gave way to the quick and close kind of friendships that fall into place on drunken Friday nights. It was just after 10pm, and our next step was finding a liquor store.
After discovering I was from Nashville, Harry seemed to forget my name. He bought two six packs of beer to share, and as we drank more and wandered into 11pm, he began referring to me only as Nashville, and the nickname stuck. Soon Jess, Anneli, and Belle were all calling me by my hometown, and I was either too drunk or too happy to have made friends to be bothered by it. I taught Belle racy French phrases, Harry gave Anneli a piggyback ride, and Jess passed around her cigarettes for sharing. In barely an hour, we had become inseparable companions, talking and laughing as if we’d known each other for years.
The plan to locate the nearest live-music club proved to be futile. We were lost, drunk, and had to retrace our steps once or twice to retrieve a shoe that Anneli kept dropping. Harry resolved to call the five of us a taxi, remembering a flyer for a live jazz bar somewhere near the bookshop. We piled into the cab, the extra beers in my tote bag clinking against my shoes and scores of loose change. I stretched across Harry, Belle, and Anneli in the back, and the driver amiably indulged Jess’s front-seat request to play “La vie en rose” on repeat throughout the drive. He laughed at our attempts to make drunken conversation, and I remember saying something like, “Je parle mieux le français quand je suis bourrée.” The blur of the cab ride dissolved into a series of dizzying sounds and images, saxophones and red lights, kisses and tequila and barefoot dances in the stoney cavern of that magic magnetic jazz club.
Le Caveau des Oubliettes is made up of two floors. The first is where the bodies form a roiling congestion of arms, heads, and torsos, where elbows needle evanescent pathways to the bar. The arms toast overfilled whisky tumblers and splash their contents to the floor. Heads balance cigarettes behind their ears and crane their necks to locate the bathroom door. Torsos rub against strangers and smell of sweat, cologne, and smoke. French, English, German, and Spanish all blend into a cacophony of conversation, punctuated by the wail of a horn section and the crash of drums emanating from the ground below. The room is small and cramped, and in the far left corner is the bar where the tenders take hasty orders and don’t bother saying more than the price of the drinks and merci.
In the far right corner is an arched stone doorway that leads into a steep and narrow set of stone stairs worn slick with age that descend into what was once a medieval dungeon. A set of iron bars line a diamond-shaped window cut from the ancient walls of the stairway, and through it you can see the small stage where large French men in velvet shirts and cowboy boots improvise funk and jazz under psychedelic blue and purple lights. The stairs let out into the middle of the room, and whether the floors were dirt or simply dirty I can’t remember.
We sat in the back, squeezed around the only table in the room. Of the thirty or so people in the dungeon, only a handful were dancing while most sat on small wooden stools, mesmerized by the music. When the waitress came to take our order, she wouldn’t serve us until Anneli and I had put on our shoes. We did, ordered a glass of wine each, and Harry ordered a beer for him and Belle. Jess ordered absinthe, le fée verte, as a testament to the writers and legends of the bygone Paris we secretly hoped we could recreate.
On the wall above her head, I noticed that carved into the stone was the year 1467. America suddenly felt like a dream, a world as lost and unimaginable as it would have been to the men who once were held captive within these walls. The concept of time was now blurred, becoming medieval, Renaissance, Belle Epoch and Roaring Twenties all at once.
While Jess and Anneli chatted with Belle and her history with Harry (they had dated once, in high school, but were just friends now), Harry and I were absorbed in the music. We talked about the colors and the tones of every chord, becoming more deeply entranced by the major-minor shifts and transitions from rock to funk, from funk to classical jazz, and at one moment, the groove was so powerful it sent us leaping to our feet with a shout.
“You get it, Nashville,” he exclaimed, squeezing my hand. “You really get it, don’t you?”
We stayed for an hour or so, laughing and making toasts to Paris, toasts to the cave, toasts to each other, until the music ended and the band packed up to go.
After that night, we became regulars at Le Caveau. I ended up moving in with Jess and Anneli at Lou’s apartment, where I lived for the next three months, and after Belle went home to Australia, Harry remained a member of our small gang. We spent our days writing songs and poems, reading books and frequenting Paris’s many museums, but our nights inevitably culminated at the jazz club. We remember stories from those nights in jumbled drunken vignettes, filling in each other’s blacked-out details where we can, but many of our memories have inevitably been lost to that time vortex cavern. For a while, we believed that “le caveau des oubliettes” meant “cave of the forgotten,” and we thought it perfectly appropriate, like some poetic justice that made our drunken antics somehow more meaningful.
“Le Caveau des oubliettes” actually translates to something more like “vault of the dungeons,” as Lou later informed us, and though we were disappointed in its lack of poetry, the place never lost its magnetism.
Many months later, after our gang of expatriates had since returned to their native countries and Lou moved back to her hometown in the French Alps, I travelled again to Paris, and found myself drifting through those cobbled streets behind Shakespeare and Company in search of our old jazz club. But Le Caveau des Oubliettes was gone, its red window covered with faded flyers and a handwritten note that simply read fermé. Whether it was to be closed forever or indefinitely was unclear, but it left me with an eerie, ominous feeling of loss. I thought that if I could just go inside, dance again within those ancient stone walls, I might remember. Remember what, I didn’t know, but I could hear it echoing somewhere behind those locked doors, somewhere deep in that crypt of all the lost and forgotten details of those nights.
0 notes
Text
How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance for Colombia
Colombia has been on your radar for a long time, and you’re finally making moves to go. But have you purchased travel insurance for Colombia?
You’ve already taken some Spanish lessons to prepare yourself, and you’ve got all of your necessary vaccinations. You’ve even spent months planning your itinerary.
You’ll wander the Old City streets of Cartagena and bounce between the beaches off the coast. You’ll try every restaurant in Medellín’s El Poblado, and you’ll climb all 740 steps up the famous Guatapé rock. Oh, and you can’t wait to hike amongst the tallest palm trees in the world in Salento.
Now the easy part is getting yourself travel insurance. And, since you’re traveling to Colombia, you need it. While Colombia is a relatively safe country to travel, there are a multitude of reasons why travel insurance is still key.
Travel insurance for your Colombia trip will give you peace of mind. The last thing you want to do while traveling somewhere new is to be worrying about anything other than enjoying yourself. With travel insurance, no matter what happens—medical issues, theft, travel delays—you can relax knowing you’re covered.
Travel insurance will cost only a small fraction of the total trip cost. Quit the excuse that “travel insurance is too expensive.” The truth is that, if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel.
You probably can’t afford to not have travel insurance in Colombia. While medical costs in the country are relatively low, medical transport is not. And what if someone steals your bag? Could you afford to replace everything inside on top of the price of your trip?
Travel insurance will give you the confidence to really enjoy your trip. Eat the street meat, go paragliding and take mototaxis around. Most likely, nothing bad will happen but, if something does go awry, you’ll be prepared.
You have plenty of great travel insurance options for Colombia—but there’s a lot you will want to consider when buying a plan.
What Is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is a bit like the health insurance you are probably already familiar with. The main difference is that travel insurance is designed to cover medical emergencies abroad as well as your travels themselves. That means you’re covered if your the victim of theft or if you have to cancel your flights (or entire trip!) due to an emergency.
In fact, you will often need both a health insurance plan and travel insurance since your health insurance at home won’t cover the same things abroad.
Essentially, travel insurance is additional insurance that covers any medical emergencies and unexpected incidents while you’re on the road, where your regular insurance won’t necessarily help. It covers your property from theft, loss and/or damage and provides trip cancelation/interruption insurance as well.
How Does Travel Insurance Differ from Regular Health Insurance?
It’s important to recognize that travel insurance is not regular health insurance.
The travel insurance plan you purchase for Colombia, for example, will offer medical coverage. But this coverage is not for normal doctor checkups. It covers any possible accidents, illnesses and issues you might unexpectedly encounter on your trip (not at home).
Regular health insurance doesn’t cover adventure activities when you’re abroad!
In addition to covering medical emergencies, travel insurance also usually comes with medical repatriation. This means that the insurance will cover the cost (or a good chunk of the cost) to fly you back home for medical care in your own country. It will not cover your medical care once you’re back home—that’s what your health insurance plan at home is for.
Similar to homeowners’ insurance, travel insurance will usually cover the possessions you take on your trip, as well. If your bag gets stolen in Colombia, travel insurance will kick in and cover the cost to replace your items.
What if you damage someone else’s property or hurt someone accidentally in Colombia? Good travel insurance will also usually have some liability coverage for such issues that other insurances won’t cover.
Moreover, in addition to medical and property coverage, travel insurance will also help in the case of an unexpected trip cancellation or interruption. You might have to cancel your trip because of a death in the family, for example. Or if there is a natural disaster or a violent attack in Colombia, you might want to interrupt your trip and head home early. Travel insurance will reimburse you for costs in situations like these, which other insurance won’t cover.
GET A QUOTE TODAY
8 Reasons You Might Need Travel Insurance for Colombia
No matter where you travel, you need travel insurance. In Colombia, especially, it can come in really handy. From medical bills to trip cancelations to stolen items, these eight reasons could ruin the trip you’ve been dreaming of.
1. Your Stuff Goes Missing
With travel insurance in Colombia, you won’t have to stress so much if something goes missing. Whether the airline loses your bag or a pickpocket gets your phone, insurance can help cover the costs to replace the lost items.
2. You Need to Cancel Your Trip
No one ever wants to cancel a trip but sometimes things come up. If you need to cancel your Colombia trip due to a health issue or another covered reason, travel insurance can help. A good policy will reimburse you for pre-paid expenses like hotel rooms and flights.
3. You Get Food Poisoning in Colombia
Street food is tasty, but it comes with risks!
While tap water is okay to drink in most major cities, it’s a lot less regulated in rural areas. Plus, there are meat sticks grilling on every corner—and they’re hard to turn down. Combine the two and food poisoning is a real possibility. If you have to pay a visit to the hospital because you caved for one of the Perro Caliente Colombiano hot dogs (and you will eat one), your travel insurance will cover your medical costs.
4. You Fall Victim to Altitude Sickness
If you’re prone to altitude sickness, you’ll want to be covered for it with your Colombia travel insurance
If you are planning to visit anywhere in Colombia that’s higher up in the Andes, you’ll want to prepare for possible altitude sickness. Bogotá, for example, sits at 8,660 feet above sea level. Locals there will tell you to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. You might even take over-the-counter pills to prevent altitude sickness. And, if you start feeling nauseous or get a headache, some locals will likely offer you coca leaves (raw but safe material from the cocaine plant) to chew to treat your symptoms.
But, despite all the preparation and home remedies available, if your altitude sickness worsens, it can (and often does) lead to a hospital visit. Travel insurance will cover your medical costs.
5. You Have an Accident Trying Adventure Sports in Colombia
Paragliding selfie!
Colombia has some really great adventure sport options—paragliding, kitesurfing, motorsports, etc. If you have an accident, these are the type of activities that can quickly run up a hospital bill. If you want to try some extreme sports in Colombia, make sure your travel insurance options covers your specific sports, too.
6. You Need Medical Evacuation in Colombia
Colombia’s major cities like Medellín and Bogotá have some incredible hospitals, but a large part of the country is still very rural. With the Andes Mountains, getting to the nearest hospital can also be a major issue. Medical evacuation by plane or helicopter in Colombia is expensive, but it could easily be a life-or-death necessity. Travel insurance will help cover the cost (or some of the cost) of your evacuation.
7. Political Violence Arises in Colombia
Political violence is unlikely, but not impossible
Colombia recently signed a peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla group. This guerrilla group was involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict from 1964 to 2017, employing a number of military tactics and terrorism. While Colombia is much safer now thanks to this agreement, there are still military groups causing occasional violence.
These violent political issues could require or compel you to cancel your trip. If you’re already there, political violence may cause you to want to head home early. Travel insurance will reimburse you for a canceled trip under these conditions, and it will help you cover the costs of calling it early.
8. The Venezuela Crisis Exacerbates
Things are unstable in Venezuela right now, and some of it is spilling over into Colombia
Speaking of unexpected increases in violence, getting Colombia travel insurance is a particularly wise move at the moment due to the Venezuela crisis. The civil issues currently ongoing in Venezuela, which are spilling over across the Colombian border, are volatile.
If the situation continues to escalate, you might want to reschedule your trip or leave early if you’re already there. Again, travel insurance will help you cover these unexpected costs.
What Does Travel Insurance in Colombia Cover?
While you should always get travel insurance, you want to do more than just buy the first policy you see without reading anything about it. It is important to understand what exactly travel insurance will cover on your Colombia trip.
Every insurance company and policy is a little different. For that reason, we’ve outlined what expenses most travel insurance companies will cover for you on a trip to Colombia.
Medical Emergencies
One of the most valuable elements of a travel insurance plan is the coverage for unexpected medical emergencies. Seeing a doctor for a stomach bug in Colombia is relatively cheap. If you break a leg or worse though, you’ll be happy you have Colombian travel insurance.
What is covered under a medical emergency will vary a bit plan to plan. In general, however, any unforeseen medical issue will be covered—so long as it’s not a preexisting condition.
If you have an accident or get sick, travel insurance will kick in to cover hospital and doctor bills in Colombia. Depending on the medical issue, the hospital and the insurance plan, you might have to pay up front and get reimbursed later from the travel insurance company.
That all said, emergency dental treatment is not always covered. If you plan to do any dangerous activities, like extreme sports, you might have to purchase additional insurance coverage.
The average travel insurance for Colombia should include $50,000 to $100,000 in medical emergency coverage.
Emergency Evacuation
Colombia is a relatively safe place but, if you have an emergency, you might have to leave early.
Emergency evacuation is a broad term for a lot of situations that your Colombia travel insurance may cover.
Surprise storm isn’t uncommon in this part of the world
First, if you are hurt or become sick in a rural part of Colombia, you might need travel insurance to cover the emergency medical transport to a nearby hospital. In Colombia, there are a number of quite expensive private medical evacuation plane and helicopter companies.
If you are suffering a major health issue, emergency evacuation will also help cover the cost of getting you home to your own doctors. Colombia has credible medical doctors, but if you will need major surgery or rehab, you’ll want to head home.
Sometimes emergency evacuation isn’t tied to a health issue. Travel insurance in Colombia might also come in handy if you need to be evacuated from an unsafe area. From flooding and mudslides to political issues, having the option to be evacuated in an emergency is important.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$100,000 to $500,000 in medical emergency evacuation coverage
$10,000 to $25,000 in non-medical emergency evacuation coverage (natural disasters, political violence, etc.)
Loss, Theft or Damage of Baggage
Like most modern travelers, you probably travel with a number of valuables—your camera, phone and maybe a laptop. Add to the electronics all of your basic necessities like clothes, and your baggage is probably pretty important to you.
Having your bag(s) stolen, lost or damaged is pretty horrible on any trip. If you have travel insurance though, you won’t have to replace everything that you lose out of your own pocket.
Travel insurance for Colombia will help cover the cost of your lost items due to theft. For example, if someone steals your bag or if a pickpocket gets your phone, insurance will cover the costs. It is important that you get a police report, though, to back up your claim.
Travel insurance will also help cover the cost of lost baggage or items. That said, most insurance companies will cover items only if you took “reasonable measures” to protect the property. In practice, this means they won’t cover something like “losing” your phone at a nightclub when you were drinking. They might cover a lost camera though if it fell out of your hand while paragliding, however.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$500 to $3,000 in lost or stolen baggage/personal items coverage
$100 to $800 in baggage delay coverage
Trip Cancellation, Delay or Interruption
Even the best-laid plans can go awry. No matter how well you plan your trip to Colombia, things might happen that are just beyond your control. Thankfully, your Colombia travel insurance will kick in to help you.
Your travel insurance will cover prepaid, non-refundable expenses if you have to cancel your trip for certain covered issues (you can’t just cancel for any old reason and expect reimbursement). Covered cancelation reasons include deaths in your immediate family, natural disasters and even a sick travel companion, among other reasons that prevent you from traveling. The covered expenses might include, for example, your hotel rooms, tours and flights.
Hopefully you won’t have to miss out on epic scenes like this!
The same issues that might cause a trip cancellation could cause a trip interruption. Trip interruption only applies if you’ve already departed for Colombia. If you need to go home unexpectedly, your travel insurance usually covers non-refundable expenses.
Sometimes a trip doesn’t need to be completely canceled, but you are delayed in traveling. If this happens due to something like a long flight delay, travel insurance will help cover unexpected costs. These expenses include rebooking a hotel or a tour that you will miss because of the delay.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$2,000 to $10,000 in trip cancellation coverage
$2,000 to $10,000 in trip interruption coverage
$500 to $2,000 in trip delay coverage
The Best Travel Insurance for Colombia
There are lots of options for travel insurance for Colombia. Depending on what you need covered, your age and your travel style, you can choose among a number of plans.
Here are three of our favorite options.
1. World Nomads
World Nomads is a leader in the travel insurance space, and easily our preferred option. With extensive coverage and the ability to add extra insurance for extreme sports, World Nomads is an ideal option.
World Nomads set itself apart by offering 24/7 emergency assistance and coverage for over 150 adventure activities, from bungee jumping to mountain biking. Plus, unlike many companies that require you to buy insurance plans before you depart, you can purchase a World Nomads plan while you’re already on the road.
Just fill out the form below to get a quote!
2. Allianz
Allianz is another good travel insurance option in Colombia. The insurance company has a strong presence already in Colombia with local offices. And, if it’s any consolation, in 2017 alone, 35 million Americans purchased insurance from Allianz Global Assistance.
With Allianz , you can choose between Single Trip Plans and Annual Plans that cover multiple trips. You can also get yourself coverage for your rental car. The very basic single trip plan, for example, includes trip cancellation and interruption benefits, as well as limited post-departure benefits like emergency medical coverage and lost/damaged baggage benefits.
3. IM Global
Not all travel insurance in Colombia will cover travelers over the age of 65. IM Global, however, covers those 65 to 70 years old.
IM Global’s most popular plan is the Patriot Travel Medical Insurance, which covers travel medical insurance for individuals, families and groups. It’s renewable up to 24 months. And it offers deductible options from $0 to $2,500, with maximum limits from $50,000 to $2,000,000. Coverage includes medical expenses, evacuation and repatriation, so you can have peace of mind while traveling.
How to File a Claim with Your Travel Insurance if Something Goes Wrong in Colombia
With any luck, your trip to Colombia will go perfectly. If it doesn’t, however, it’s important to know how to file a claim with your travel insurance.
Every travel insurance company has a slightly different process for filing claims. In general, you will want to keep in mind the following guidelines.
Note: If it is a serious medical issue, call your travel insurance company immediately.
There is usually a 24-hour assistance hotline for such cases. By calling ahead, you can get information on what hospital is best to visit. Sometimes, you can also get advanced payment from the insurance company. That way, you won’t have to cover everything out of pocket up front.
1. Get Police and/or Medical Reports
To claim a stolen item, you will need to file a police report in Colombia. If you end up in the hospital for a medical issue, save all of your medical reports. You will have to submit these to your travel insurance company to back up your claim.
2. Save All of Your Receipts
You have to prove that something happened with the police records and medical reports that you’ve collected. You can prove your expenses or loss with these saved materials. If something of yours is stolen, you can even submit a copy of the original purchase receipt—so be sure to always save receipts, too.
3. Submit the Claim Online (or by Mail)
Most travel insurance companies will accept claims online. However, if they need additional information, you might have to mail in the original receipts, police reports, etc.
Your filing process will differ depending on the travel insurance company you choose. If you have any questions about filing, you can usually find a helpline on the company site.
Travel insurance is always a must. And because of the current political situations in and around Colombia, as well as all of the adventure activities available to you in the country, travel insurance is even more important.
Sure, Colombia is safer now than it has been in decades. But political violence, natural disasters, illnesses, emergencies and just plain bad luck can still happen. With travel insurance in Colombia, you can be prepared no matter how things pan out.
Before you jump on a plane to Colombia, decide on a travel insurance plan that’s right for you. It’s easy to shop around, plans are affordable and you have no excuse not to get it.
GET A QUOTE TODAY
READ MORE:
Is it Safe to Travel to Colombia?
The Best Travel Insurance Companies of 2019
Is Travel Insurance REALLY Worth It?
12 Smart Ways Keep Your Stuff Safe When You Travel
source http://cheaprtravels.com/how-to-pick-the-right-travel-insurance-for-colombia/
0 notes
Text
Fishing for Litter: A Plastic Clean-up Mission in London’s Canals
Today I’m going fishing – for litter and plastic.
It’s a sunny Saturday morning in East London, and I’m sitting on a stationary canal-boat-turned-cafe, sipping coffee (in a reusable cup!), and listening to a woman called Cal Major speak about plastic pollution.
Cal Major is a champion stand up paddle-boarder from Devon, England, who’s founded an initiative called ‘Paddle Against Plastic’ which aims to get people caring about their environment through adventure. She’s been working with a variety of organisations – including KEEN, the outdoor shoe brand – to amplify the message that we need to be doing more to clean up our water systems and reduce plastic pollution.
Which is why KEEN invited a group of people (myself included) to spend the morning helping to rid London’s canals of their plastic litter.
It’s no surprise that people like Cal, who are passionate about the outdoors, are becoming eco-warriors in a very real sense. I follow plenty of these folks online – surfers, kayakers, rock climbers, long-distance runners, and generally record-breakers of all kinds.
They see the devastating effects of pollution directly in front of them as they travel, and witnessing such blatant disregard for the environment pushes them to campaign.
But I’m not exactly a record-breaking adventurer – so where do I come into all this?
Read more: the biggest ethical travel mistakes I’ve made abroad
The hard-to-swallow facts about plastic pollution
I’m not exactly an outdoor person. By which I mean: I love being outside, and plenty of my travels have involved long-distance hiking, polar swimming, underground caving and walking around fire for eight hours. When I’m back home though, adventurous activities in my daily life are not really the norm.
But when it comes to plastic pollution? As a long-time traveller, there’s no escaping the increasingly obvious fact: pollution is visibly affecting every destination I travel to. Like last year in Bali, a country famed for its ‘beautiful’ natural landscapes, where the most common sight was a beach absolutely thick with tidemarks of plastic litter.
More than 8 million metric tons of plastic finds its way into the ocean each year, and that’s on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons which are already circulating through the world’s waters.
It’s a surreal, disgusting, horrific amount – and a staggering 50% of this marine litter is comprised of single-use plastic items. Yet companies keep churning it out: drinks bottles, takeaway boxes, cutlery, cotton buds, and the ubiquitous plastic bag.
Why? Because we keep buying single-use plastic.
I know the topic of plastic pollution gets a lot of attention (and it’s for good reason!). But now I’m sticking my oar in too. Because when you’re actively looking for this level of plastic pollution, you see it absolutely everywhere.
Those clean plastic bags at the supermarket check-out? Those polystyrene boxes filled with steaming food at festivals? Those plastic bottles in a cafe fridge? Put them in a different, more natural setting (like a picturesque canal in England) and suddenly you’re emptying out grey-green river sludge through an upside down McDonalds cup, squishing a muddy plastic bag peppered with holes, or fishing brightly coloured bottle caps from the surface of a river while baby ducks swim past.
Read more: Ten eco-friendly travel products I use (and re-use!)
In the UK we use over 7 billion plastic bottles every year and only half actually get recycled. In London alone, the average adult buys three plastic bottles every week, which adds up to 175 bottles per person a year.
And where do all those bottles go?
Well, a recent study found that there are traces of micro plastic in every single waterway in England, so clearly a lot of it gets dumped into rivers, canals, lakes and the sea. We don’t yet fully understand what effect this level of plastic pollution in our water has on human health either, but it’s pretty clear that animals are not doing all that well: those same micro plastics have also been found inside every single marine mammal stranded on UK shores.
It’s time to do my part and start actively helping to reduce plastic pollution.
Pin me for later!
Plastic Whale: a new way to positively recycle
“Did you know that plastic is one of the most durable man-made materials ever?”
After Cal Major had finished speaking, a man appeared wielding a net. He works with a Dutch social enterprise called Plastic Whale, who fish out around 60,000 PET plastic bottles a year from the canals of Amsterdam. They then separate the PET from the collected plastic, turn it into flakes and fibres, and use these components to make boats.
The more plastic they collect, the more boats they make – and the freshly-made boats then sail along the canals collecting yet more plastic. It’s a perfect plastic-collecting cycle.
Plastic Whale initially began in 2011 to prove a point: by successfully constructing a single boat made entirely from canal plastic, they planned to demonstrate how polluted the waters of Amsterdam were. But it quickly became apparent that fishing for plastic could allow thousands of eager participants to regularly clean up the canals, and spread awareness while they did it.
Now they have a fleet of a dozen boats picking up plastic in the canals of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and this summer they’ve sent the bright yellow boat (seen above) on a mission around Europe. Plastic Whale are proving that single-use plastic doesn’t have to be disposable waste: instead, it can be a useful raw material.
But we still needed to experience Plastic Whale’s initiative for ourselves, and start picking up some plastic. It was time to get out onto the water.
Collecting trash in canoes on the Hackney canals
After we were kitted out with life jackets, paddles and the all-important bin bags and litter picking devices, we manoeuvred our way into a series of canoes at the edge of the canal.
Being out on the water was lovely. I used to live in East London and occasionally I’d spend a day walking along the canal – but I’d never got closer than that. Now we were parallel with the houseboats and barges, pulling our paddles through the calm water and gliding beneath the bridges.
I’d boarded a canoe with Caroline, a fellow blogger who I’d just met, and it didn’t take us long to start spotting plastic. Our canoeing skills weren’t the best, but once you’ve seen a piece of plastic its hard to ignore – so we awkwardly paddled ourselves back and forth, shimmying the canoe into the gaps until we could reach across with the litter pickers and grasp whatever it was possible to reach.
It was hilarious! – or at least, it was to start with.
Once I’d settled into ‘noticing’ the rubbish, I could see it literally everywhere. Stained bottles caught in the undergrowth. Circular flashes of colour floating on the water’s surface. Tiny chunks of foam and polystyrene, leaving a trail of tiny bubble-like white dots as they broke apart. Beer cans nestled in the hollows of canal barricades, slowly dripping stale liquid into the canal below.
And most disturbing? The glimpses of tattered white plastic swaying eerily in the water beneath us. With the movement of every boat above, more strips and fragments continually tore off, and the bags were so firmly embedded in the silt below that there was no hope of grabbing them.
Our bin bags soon contained bottle tops, sweet wrappers and scrunched up balls of tinfoil, merging with the brambles and weeds. Most of the thin plastic had broken apart so badly that it was difficult to identify what it might have once been.
Unfortunately, some rubbish is all too easy to identify – especially when it still has its lid, striped straw and internationally recognised logo.
(Just FYI: these McDonalds cups may look like cardboard, but they have a thin layer of polyethylene plastic inside to prevent leaking which means they’re fundamentally non-recyclable)
Amongst all the trash there were still reminders of nature growing in the wild, and I tried hard to see the beauty in this environment.
I spotted clusters of blackberries in the bushes and half-considered picking a few to snack on – but almost immediately I wondered what they’d taste like, seeing as their water supply was coming from the filthy canal?
And my vain attempt at positivity all came tumbling down when I saw a pile of shredded plastic which, as we drew closer, turned out to be a bird’s nest. Somewhere close by, a poor creature had used ragged strands of filthy plastic to make its home instead of twigs.
Newsflash: there’s a LOT of plastic trash in London’s canals
After an hour of litter collection we headed back to dry land and heaved our trash bags up to the water’s edge. It was a sobering sight. In just one hour, a group of two dozen people had collected 63kgs of plastic – and there was a lot more rubbish besides.
One group had found a condom, a sanitary pad, and a nappy floating in the water. Others had picked up a Chinese patterned vase, a zippered suede boot, a fluffy slipper, a pair of shorts and a little plastic toy teacup.
When it was all piled onto Plastic Whale’s bright yellow boat, it was a pretty depressing sight.
But as I looked out at the canals, it was somewhat bolstering to see a dozen more people on paddle boards, criss-crossing the water with paddles raised and buckets filled with rubbish.
Another group of plastic trash collectors were also operating on the same stretch of canal, and they were still working on the clean-up job even after we’d stopped.
How to raise awareness about plastic pollution (hint: it involves you!)
There’s no denying that I saw on the canals really shocked me. I won’t get that plastic-filled bird’s nest out of my mind for a long time.
But perhaps that’s a good thing? Perhaps it’s necessary to receive a jolt of cold reality occasionally – as now I feel doubly invested in cutting down on my single-use plastic usage, and getting more involved in clean-up operations wherever I can.
The war on plastic might feel never-ending, but there are plenty of people passionate about collecting and recycling the world’s plastic, and raising awareness too.
Here are some ways to reduce your plastic use
Use a reusable bottle for your water and stop buying plastic bottles!
Use a reusable coffee cup — even the disposable ones you get in a shop often have a plastic lining
Carry a reusable bag and stop taking plastic bags when you’re in the supermarket
Avoid using plastic straws (unless a disability requires using them)
Try to avoid buying fruit and veg packed in plastic for a week
Try to walk at least half an hour a day — hopefully through somewhere green to connect with nature
Try to pick up ten pieces of rubbish a day (keep an old plastic bag in your usual bag for this – and maybe a rubber glove too if you’re unsure about the dirt factor!)
Pick up plastic and cans on the street (or in the water!) and put them in a recycling bin
Pin this article if you enjoyed it!
NB: I was kindly invited to this plastic clean-up event by KEEN, for which I’m seriously grateful. Getting my hands dirty in the name of plastic pollution has really given me a necessary kick into action – so stay tuned for more conservation activity. I hope you’re equally inspired to start reducing your plastic usage, too!
The post Fishing for Litter: A Plastic Clean-up Mission in London’s Canals appeared first on Flora The Explorer.
via WordPress https://ift.tt/32wlLNz
0 notes
Text
How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance for Colombia
Colombia has been on your radar for a long time, and you’re finally making moves to go. But have you purchased travel insurance for Colombia?
You’ve already taken some Spanish lessons to prepare yourself, and you’ve got all of your necessary vaccinations. You’ve even spent months planning your itinerary.
You’ll wander the Old City streets of Cartagena and bounce between the beaches off the coast. You’ll try every restaurant in Medellín’s El Poblado, and you’ll climb all 740 steps up the famous Guatapé rock. Oh, and you can’t wait to hike amongst the tallest palm trees in the world in Salento.
Now the easy part is getting yourself travel insurance. And, since you’re traveling to Colombia, you need it. While Colombia is a relatively safe country to travel, there are a multitude of reasons why travel insurance is still key.
Travel insurance for your Colombia trip will give you peace of mind. The last thing you want to do while traveling somewhere new is to be worrying about anything other than enjoying yourself. With travel insurance, no matter what happens—medical issues, theft, travel delays—you can relax knowing you’re covered.
Travel insurance will cost only a small fraction of the total trip cost. Quit the excuse that “travel insurance is too expensive.” The truth is that, if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel.
You probably can’t afford to not have travel insurance in Colombia. While medical costs in the country are relatively low, medical transport is not. And what if someone steals your bag? Could you afford to replace everything inside on top of the price of your trip?
Travel insurance will give you the confidence to really enjoy your trip. Eat the street meat, go paragliding and take mototaxis around. Most likely, nothing bad will happen but, if something does go awry, you’ll be prepared.
You have plenty of great travel insurance options for Colombia—but there’s a lot you will want to consider when buying a plan.
What Is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is a bit like the health insurance you are probably already familiar with. The main difference is that travel insurance is designed to cover medical emergencies abroad as well as your travels themselves. That means you’re covered if your the victim of theft or if you have to cancel your flights (or entire trip!) due to an emergency.
In fact, you will often need both a health insurance plan and travel insurance since your health insurance at home won’t cover the same things abroad.
Essentially, travel insurance is additional insurance that covers any medical emergencies and unexpected incidents while you’re on the road, where your regular insurance won’t necessarily help. It covers your property from theft, loss and/or damage and provides trip cancelation/interruption insurance as well.
How Does Travel Insurance Differ from Regular Health Insurance?
It’s important to recognize that travel insurance is not regular health insurance.
The travel insurance plan you purchase for Colombia, for example, will offer medical coverage. But this coverage is not for normal doctor checkups. It covers any possible accidents, illnesses and issues you might unexpectedly encounter on your trip (not at home).
Regular health insurance doesn’t cover adventure activities when you’re abroad!
In addition to covering medical emergencies, travel insurance also usually comes with medical repatriation. This means that the insurance will cover the cost (or a good chunk of the cost) to fly you back home for medical care in your own country. It will not cover your medical care once you’re back home—that’s what your health insurance plan at home is for.
Similar to homeowners’ insurance, travel insurance will usually cover the possessions you take on your trip, as well. If your bag gets stolen in Colombia, travel insurance will kick in and cover the cost to replace your items.
What if you damage someone else’s property or hurt someone accidentally in Colombia? Good travel insurance will also usually have some liability coverage for such issues that other insurances won’t cover.
Moreover, in addition to medical and property coverage, travel insurance will also help in the case of an unexpected trip cancellation or interruption. You might have to cancel your trip because of a death in the family, for example. Or if there is a natural disaster or a violent attack in Colombia, you might want to interrupt your trip and head home early. Travel insurance will reimburse you for costs in situations like these, which other insurance won’t cover.
GET A QUOTE TODAY
8 Reasons You Might Need Travel Insurance for Colombia
No matter where you travel, you need travel insurance. In Colombia, especially, it can come in really handy. From medical bills to trip cancelations to stolen items, these eight reasons could ruin the trip you’ve been dreaming of.
1. Your Stuff Goes Missing
With travel insurance in Colombia, you won’t have to stress so much if something goes missing. Whether the airline loses your bag or a pickpocket gets your phone, insurance can help cover the costs to replace the lost items.
2. You Need to Cancel Your Trip
No one ever wants to cancel a trip but sometimes things come up. If you need to cancel your Colombia trip due to a health issue or another covered reason, travel insurance can help. A good policy will reimburse you for pre-paid expenses like hotel rooms and flights.
3. You Get Food Poisoning in Colombia
Street food is tasty, but it comes with risks!
While tap water is okay to drink in most major cities, it’s a lot less regulated in rural areas. Plus, there are meat sticks grilling on every corner—and they’re hard to turn down. Combine the two and food poisoning is a real possibility. If you have to pay a visit to the hospital because you caved for one of the Perro Caliente Colombiano hot dogs (and you will eat one), your travel insurance will cover your medical costs.
4. You Fall Victim to Altitude Sickness
If you’re prone to altitude sickness, you’ll want to be covered for it with your Colombia travel insurance
If you are planning to visit anywhere in Colombia that’s higher up in the Andes, you’ll want to prepare for possible altitude sickness. Bogotá, for example, sits at 8,660 feet above sea level. Locals there will tell you to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. You might even take over-the-counter pills to prevent altitude sickness. And, if you start feeling nauseous or get a headache, some locals will likely offer you coca leaves (raw but safe material from the cocaine plant) to chew to treat your symptoms.
But, despite all the preparation and home remedies available, if your altitude sickness worsens, it can (and often does) lead to a hospital visit. Travel insurance will cover your medical costs.
5. You Have an Accident Trying Adventure Sports in Colombia
Paragliding selfie!
Colombia has some really great adventure sport options—paragliding, kitesurfing, motorsports, etc. If you have an accident, these are the type of activities that can quickly run up a hospital bill. If you want to try some extreme sports in Colombia, make sure your travel insurance options covers your specific sports, too.
6. You Need Medical Evacuation in Colombia
Colombia’s major cities like Medellín and Bogotá have some incredible hospitals, but a large part of the country is still very rural. With the Andes Mountains, getting to the nearest hospital can also be a major issue. Medical evacuation by plane or helicopter in Colombia is expensive, but it could easily be a life-or-death necessity. Travel insurance will help cover the cost (or some of the cost) of your evacuation.
7. Political Violence Arises in Colombia
Political violence is unlikely, but not impossible
Colombia recently signed a peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla group. This guerrilla group was involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict from 1964 to 2017, employing a number of military tactics and terrorism. While Colombia is much safer now thanks to this agreement, there are still military groups causing occasional violence.
These violent political issues could require or compel you to cancel your trip. If you’re already there, political violence may cause you to want to head home early. Travel insurance will reimburse you for a canceled trip under these conditions, and it will help you cover the costs of calling it early.
8. The Venezuela Crisis Exacerbates
Things are unstable in Venezuela right now, and some of it is spilling over into Colombia
Speaking of unexpected increases in violence, getting Colombia travel insurance is a particularly wise move at the moment due to the Venezuela crisis. The civil issues currently ongoing in Venezuela, which are spilling over across the Colombian border, are volatile.
If the situation continues to escalate, you might want to reschedule your trip or leave early if you’re already there. Again, travel insurance will help you cover these unexpected costs.
What Does Travel Insurance in Colombia Cover?
While you should always get travel insurance, you want to do more than just buy the first policy you see without reading anything about it. It is important to understand what exactly travel insurance will cover on your Colombia trip.
Every insurance company and policy is a little different. For that reason, we’ve outlined what expenses most travel insurance companies will cover for you on a trip to Colombia.
Medical Emergencies
One of the most valuable elements of a travel insurance plan is the coverage for unexpected medical emergencies. Seeing a doctor for a stomach bug in Colombia is relatively cheap. If you break a leg or worse though, you’ll be happy you have Colombian travel insurance.
What is covered under a medical emergency will vary a bit plan to plan. In general, however, any unforeseen medical issue will be covered—so long as it’s not a preexisting condition.
If you have an accident or get sick, travel insurance will kick in to cover hospital and doctor bills in Colombia. Depending on the medical issue, the hospital and the insurance plan, you might have to pay up front and get reimbursed later from the travel insurance company.
That all said, emergency dental treatment is not always covered. If you plan to do any dangerous activities, like extreme sports, you might have to purchase additional insurance coverage.
The average travel insurance for Colombia should include $50,000 to $100,000 in medical emergency coverage.
Emergency Evacuation
Colombia is a relatively safe place but, if you have an emergency, you might have to leave early.
Emergency evacuation is a broad term for a lot of situations that your Colombia travel insurance may cover.
Surprise storm isn’t uncommon in this part of the world
First, if you are hurt or become sick in a rural part of Colombia, you might need travel insurance to cover the emergency medical transport to a nearby hospital. In Colombia, there are a number of quite expensive private medical evacuation plane and helicopter companies.
If you are suffering a major health issue, emergency evacuation will also help cover the cost of getting you home to your own doctors. Colombia has credible medical doctors, but if you will need major surgery or rehab, you’ll want to head home.
Sometimes emergency evacuation isn’t tied to a health issue. Travel insurance in Colombia might also come in handy if you need to be evacuated from an unsafe area. From flooding and mudslides to political issues, having the option to be evacuated in an emergency is important.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$100,000 to $500,000 in medical emergency evacuation coverage
$10,000 to $25,000 in non-medical emergency evacuation coverage (natural disasters, political violence, etc.)
Loss, Theft or Damage of Baggage
Like most modern travelers, you probably travel with a number of valuables—your camera, phone and maybe a laptop. Add to the electronics all of your basic necessities like clothes, and your baggage is probably pretty important to you.
Having your bag(s) stolen, lost or damaged is pretty horrible on any trip. If you have travel insurance though, you won’t have to replace everything that you lose out of your own pocket.
Travel insurance for Colombia will help cover the cost of your lost items due to theft. For example, if someone steals your bag or if a pickpocket gets your phone, insurance will cover the costs. It is important that you get a police report, though, to back up your claim.
Travel insurance will also help cover the cost of lost baggage or items. That said, most insurance companies will cover items only if you took “reasonable measures” to protect the property. In practice, this means they won’t cover something like “losing” your phone at a nightclub when you were drinking. They might cover a lost camera though if it fell out of your hand while paragliding, however.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$500 to $3,000 in lost or stolen baggage/personal items coverage
$100 to $800 in baggage delay coverage
Trip Cancellation, Delay or Interruption
Even the best-laid plans can go awry. No matter how well you plan your trip to Colombia, things might happen that are just beyond your control. Thankfully, your Colombia travel insurance will kick in to help you.
Your travel insurance will cover prepaid, non-refundable expenses if you have to cancel your trip for certain covered issues (you can’t just cancel for any old reason and expect reimbursement). Covered cancelation reasons include deaths in your immediate family, natural disasters and even a sick travel companion, among other reasons that prevent you from traveling. The covered expenses might include, for example, your hotel rooms, tours and flights.
Hopefully you won’t have to miss out on epic scenes like this!
The same issues that might cause a trip cancellation could cause a trip interruption. Trip interruption only applies if you’ve already departed for Colombia. If you need to go home unexpectedly, your travel insurance usually covers non-refundable expenses.
Sometimes a trip doesn’t need to be completely canceled, but you are delayed in traveling. If this happens due to something like a long flight delay, travel insurance will help cover unexpected costs. These expenses include rebooking a hotel or a tour that you will miss because of the delay.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$2,000 to $10,000 in trip cancellation coverage
$2,000 to $10,000 in trip interruption coverage
$500 to $2,000 in trip delay coverage
The Best Travel Insurance for Colombia
There are lots of options for travel insurance for Colombia. Depending on what you need covered, your age and your travel style, you can choose among a number of plans.
Here are three of our favorite options.
1. World Nomads
World Nomads is a leader in the travel insurance space, and easily our preferred option. With extensive coverage and the ability to add extra insurance for extreme sports, World Nomads is an ideal option.
World Nomads set itself apart by offering 24/7 emergency assistance and coverage for over 150 adventure activities, from bungee jumping to mountain biking. Plus, unlike many companies that require you to buy insurance plans before you depart, you can purchase a World Nomads plan while you’re already on the road.
Just fill out the form below to get a quote!
2. Allianz
Allianz is another good travel insurance option in Colombia. The insurance company has a strong presence already in Colombia with local offices. And, if it’s any consolation, in 2017 alone, 35 million Americans purchased insurance from Allianz Global Assistance.
With Allianz , you can choose between Single Trip Plans and Annual Plans that cover multiple trips. You can also get yourself coverage for your rental car. The very basic single trip plan, for example, includes trip cancellation and interruption benefits, as well as limited post-departure benefits like emergency medical coverage and lost/damaged baggage benefits.
3. IM Global
Not all travel insurance in Colombia will cover travelers over the age of 65. IM Global, however, covers those 65 to 70 years old.
IM Global’s most popular plan is the Patriot Travel Medical Insurance, which covers travel medical insurance for individuals, families and groups. It’s renewable up to 24 months. And it offers deductible options from $0 to $2,500, with maximum limits from $50,000 to $2,000,000. Coverage includes medical expenses, evacuation and repatriation, so you can have peace of mind while traveling.
How to File a Claim with Your Travel Insurance if Something Goes Wrong in Colombia
With any luck, your trip to Colombia will go perfectly. If it doesn’t, however, it’s important to know how to file a claim with your travel insurance.
Every travel insurance company has a slightly different process for filing claims. In general, you will want to keep in mind the following guidelines.
Note: If it is a serious medical issue, call your travel insurance company immediately.
There is usually a 24-hour assistance hotline for such cases. By calling ahead, you can get information on what hospital is best to visit. Sometimes, you can also get advanced payment from the insurance company. That way, you won’t have to cover everything out of pocket up front.
1. Get Police and/or Medical Reports
To claim a stolen item, you will need to file a police report in Colombia. If you end up in the hospital for a medical issue, save all of your medical reports. You will have to submit these to your travel insurance company to back up your claim.
2. Save All of Your Receipts
You have to prove that something happened with the police records and medical reports that you’ve collected. You can prove your expenses or loss with these saved materials. If something of yours is stolen, you can even submit a copy of the original purchase receipt—so be sure to always save receipts, too.
3. Submit the Claim Online (or by Mail)
Most travel insurance companies will accept claims online. However, if they need additional information, you might have to mail in the original receipts, police reports, etc.
Your filing process will differ depending on the travel insurance company you choose. If you have any questions about filing, you can usually find a helpline on the company site.
Travel insurance is always a must. And because of the current political situations in and around Colombia, as well as all of the adventure activities available to you in the country, travel insurance is even more important.
Sure, Colombia is safer now than it has been in decades. But political violence, natural disasters, illnesses, emergencies and just plain bad luck can still happen. With travel insurance in Colombia, you can be prepared no matter how things pan out.
Before you jump on a plane to Colombia, decide on a travel insurance plan that’s right for you. It’s easy to shop around, plans are affordable and you have no excuse not to get it.
GET A QUOTE TODAY
READ MORE:
Is it Safe to Travel to Colombia?
The Best Travel Insurance Companies of 2019
Is Travel Insurance REALLY Worth It?
12 Smart Ways Keep Your Stuff Safe When You Travel
from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/32SpxA4
via IFTTT
0 notes
Text
How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance for Colombia
Colombia has been on your radar for a long time, and you’re finally making moves to go. But have you purchased travel insurance for Colombia?
You’ve already taken some Spanish lessons to prepare yourself, and you’ve got all of your necessary vaccinations. You’ve even spent months planning your itinerary.
You’ll wander the Old City streets of Cartagena and bounce between the beaches off the coast. You’ll try every restaurant in Medellín’s El Poblado, and you’ll climb all 740 steps up the famous Guatapé rock. Oh, and you can’t wait to hike amongst the tallest palm trees in the world in Salento.
Now the easy part is getting yourself travel insurance. And, since you’re traveling to Colombia, you need it. While Colombia is a relatively safe country to travel, there are a multitude of reasons why travel insurance is still key.
Travel insurance for your Colombia trip will give you peace of mind. The last thing you want to do while traveling somewhere new is to be worrying about anything other than enjoying yourself. With travel insurance, no matter what happens—medical issues, theft, travel delays—you can relax knowing you’re covered.
Travel insurance will cost only a small fraction of the total trip cost. Quit the excuse that “travel insurance is too expensive.” The truth is that, if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel.
You probably can’t afford to not have travel insurance in Colombia. While medical costs in the country are relatively low, medical transport is not. And what if someone steals your bag? Could you afford to replace everything inside on top of the price of your trip?
Travel insurance will give you the confidence to really enjoy your trip. Eat the street meat, go paragliding and take mototaxis around. Most likely, nothing bad will happen but, if something does go awry, you’ll be prepared.
You have plenty of great travel insurance options for Colombia—but there’s a lot you will want to consider when buying a plan.
What Is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is a bit like the health insurance you are probably already familiar with. The main difference is that travel insurance is designed to cover medical emergencies abroad as well as your travels themselves. That means you’re covered if your the victim of theft or if you have to cancel your flights (or entire trip!) due to an emergency.
In fact, you will often need both a health insurance plan and travel insurance since your health insurance at home won’t cover the same things abroad.
Essentially, travel insurance is additional insurance that covers any medical emergencies and unexpected incidents while you’re on the road, where your regular insurance won’t necessarily help. It covers your property from theft, loss and/or damage and provides trip cancelation/interruption insurance as well.
How Does Travel Insurance Differ from Regular Health Insurance?
It’s important to recognize that travel insurance is not regular health insurance.
The travel insurance plan you purchase for Colombia, for example, will offer medical coverage. But this coverage is not for normal doctor checkups. It covers any possible accidents, illnesses and issues you might unexpectedly encounter on your trip (not at home).
Regular health insurance doesn’t cover adventure activities when you’re abroad!
In addition to covering medical emergencies, travel insurance also usually comes with medical repatriation. This means that the insurance will cover the cost (or a good chunk of the cost) to fly you back home for medical care in your own country. It will not cover your medical care once you’re back home—that’s what your health insurance plan at home is for.
Similar to homeowners’ insurance, travel insurance will usually cover the possessions you take on your trip, as well. If your bag gets stolen in Colombia, travel insurance will kick in and cover the cost to replace your items.
What if you damage someone else’s property or hurt someone accidentally in Colombia? Good travel insurance will also usually have some liability coverage for such issues that other insurances won’t cover.
Moreover, in addition to medical and property coverage, travel insurance will also help in the case of an unexpected trip cancellation or interruption. You might have to cancel your trip because of a death in the family, for example. Or if there is a natural disaster or a violent attack in Colombia, you might want to interrupt your trip and head home early. Travel insurance will reimburse you for costs in situations like these, which other insurance won’t cover.
GET A QUOTE TODAY
8 Reasons You Might Need Travel Insurance for Colombia
No matter where you travel, you need travel insurance. In Colombia, especially, it can come in really handy. From medical bills to trip cancelations to stolen items, these eight reasons could ruin the trip you’ve been dreaming of.
1. Your Stuff Goes Missing
With travel insurance in Colombia, you won’t have to stress so much if something goes missing. Whether the airline loses your bag or a pickpocket gets your phone, insurance can help cover the costs to replace the lost items.
2. You Need to Cancel Your Trip
No one ever wants to cancel a trip but sometimes things come up. If you need to cancel your Colombia trip due to a health issue or another covered reason, travel insurance can help. A good policy will reimburse you for pre-paid expenses like hotel rooms and flights.
3. You Get Food Poisoning in Colombia
Street food is tasty, but it comes with risks!
While tap water is okay to drink in most major cities, it’s a lot less regulated in rural areas. Plus, there are meat sticks grilling on every corner—and they’re hard to turn down. Combine the two and food poisoning is a real possibility. If you have to pay a visit to the hospital because you caved for one of the Perro Caliente Colombiano hot dogs (and you will eat one), your travel insurance will cover your medical costs.
4. You Fall Victim to Altitude Sickness
If you’re prone to altitude sickness, you’ll want to be covered for it with your Colombia travel insurance
If you are planning to visit anywhere in Colombia that’s higher up in the Andes, you’ll want to prepare for possible altitude sickness. Bogotá, for example, sits at 8,660 feet above sea level. Locals there will tell you to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. You might even take over-the-counter pills to prevent altitude sickness. And, if you start feeling nauseous or get a headache, some locals will likely offer you coca leaves (raw but safe material from the cocaine plant) to chew to treat your symptoms.
But, despite all the preparation and home remedies available, if your altitude sickness worsens, it can (and often does) lead to a hospital visit. Travel insurance will cover your medical costs.
5. You Have an Accident Trying Adventure Sports in Colombia
Paragliding selfie!
Colombia has some really great adventure sport options—paragliding, kitesurfing, motorsports, etc. If you have an accident, these are the type of activities that can quickly run up a hospital bill. If you want to try some extreme sports in Colombia, make sure your travel insurance options covers your specific sports, too.
6. You Need Medical Evacuation in Colombia
Colombia’s major cities like Medellín and Bogotá have some incredible hospitals, but a large part of the country is still very rural. With the Andes Mountains, getting to the nearest hospital can also be a major issue. Medical evacuation by plane or helicopter in Colombia is expensive, but it could easily be a life-or-death necessity. Travel insurance will help cover the cost (or some of the cost) of your evacuation.
7. Political Violence Arises in Colombia
Political violence is unlikely, but not impossible
Colombia recently signed a peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla group. This guerrilla group was involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict from 1964 to 2017, employing a number of military tactics and terrorism. While Colombia is much safer now thanks to this agreement, there are still military groups causing occasional violence.
These violent political issues could require or compel you to cancel your trip. If you’re already there, political violence may cause you to want to head home early. Travel insurance will reimburse you for a canceled trip under these conditions, and it will help you cover the costs of calling it early.
8. The Venezuela Crisis Exacerbates
Things are unstable in Venezuela right now, and some of it is spilling over into Colombia
Speaking of unexpected increases in violence, getting Colombia travel insurance is a particularly wise move at the moment due to the Venezuela crisis. The civil issues currently ongoing in Venezuela, which are spilling over across the Colombian border, are volatile.
If the situation continues to escalate, you might want to reschedule your trip or leave early if you’re already there. Again, travel insurance will help you cover these unexpected costs.
What Does Travel Insurance in Colombia Cover?
While you should always get travel insurance, you want to do more than just buy the first policy you see without reading anything about it. It is important to understand what exactly travel insurance will cover on your Colombia trip.
Every insurance company and policy is a little different. For that reason, we’ve outlined what expenses most travel insurance companies will cover for you on a trip to Colombia.
Medical Emergencies
One of the most valuable elements of a travel insurance plan is the coverage for unexpected medical emergencies. Seeing a doctor for a stomach bug in Colombia is relatively cheap. If you break a leg or worse though, you’ll be happy you have Colombian travel insurance.
What is covered under a medical emergency will vary a bit plan to plan. In general, however, any unforeseen medical issue will be covered—so long as it’s not a preexisting condition.
If you have an accident or get sick, travel insurance will kick in to cover hospital and doctor bills in Colombia. Depending on the medical issue, the hospital and the insurance plan, you might have to pay up front and get reimbursed later from the travel insurance company.
That all said, emergency dental treatment is not always covered. If you plan to do any dangerous activities, like extreme sports, you might have to purchase additional insurance coverage.
The average travel insurance for Colombia should include $50,000 to $100,000 in medical emergency coverage.
Emergency Evacuation
Colombia is a relatively safe place but, if you have an emergency, you might have to leave early.
Emergency evacuation is a broad term for a lot of situations that your Colombia travel insurance may cover.
Surprise storm isn’t uncommon in this part of the world
First, if you are hurt or become sick in a rural part of Colombia, you might need travel insurance to cover the emergency medical transport to a nearby hospital. In Colombia, there are a number of quite expensive private medical evacuation plane and helicopter companies.
If you are suffering a major health issue, emergency evacuation will also help cover the cost of getting you home to your own doctors. Colombia has credible medical doctors, but if you will need major surgery or rehab, you’ll want to head home.
Sometimes emergency evacuation isn’t tied to a health issue. Travel insurance in Colombia might also come in handy if you need to be evacuated from an unsafe area. From flooding and mudslides to political issues, having the option to be evacuated in an emergency is important.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$100,000 to $500,000 in medical emergency evacuation coverage
$10,000 to $25,000 in non-medical emergency evacuation coverage (natural disasters, political violence, etc.)
Loss, Theft or Damage of Baggage
Like most modern travelers, you probably travel with a number of valuables—your camera, phone and maybe a laptop. Add to the electronics all of your basic necessities like clothes, and your baggage is probably pretty important to you.
Having your bag(s) stolen, lost or damaged is pretty horrible on any trip. If you have travel insurance though, you won’t have to replace everything that you lose out of your own pocket.
Travel insurance for Colombia will help cover the cost of your lost items due to theft. For example, if someone steals your bag or if a pickpocket gets your phone, insurance will cover the costs. It is important that you get a police report, though, to back up your claim.
Travel insurance will also help cover the cost of lost baggage or items. That said, most insurance companies will cover items only if you took “reasonable measures” to protect the property. In practice, this means they won’t cover something like “losing” your phone at a nightclub when you were drinking. They might cover a lost camera though if it fell out of your hand while paragliding, however.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$500 to $3,000 in lost or stolen baggage/personal items coverage
$100 to $800 in baggage delay coverage
Trip Cancellation, Delay or Interruption
Even the best-laid plans can go awry. No matter how well you plan your trip to Colombia, things might happen that are just beyond your control. Thankfully, your Colombia travel insurance will kick in to help you.
Your travel insurance will cover prepaid, non-refundable expenses if you have to cancel your trip for certain covered issues (you can’t just cancel for any old reason and expect reimbursement). Covered cancelation reasons include deaths in your immediate family, natural disasters and even a sick travel companion, among other reasons that prevent you from traveling. The covered expenses might include, for example, your hotel rooms, tours and flights.
Hopefully you won’t have to miss out on epic scenes like this!
The same issues that might cause a trip cancellation could cause a trip interruption. Trip interruption only applies if you’ve already departed for Colombia. If you need to go home unexpectedly, your travel insurance usually covers non-refundable expenses.
Sometimes a trip doesn’t need to be completely canceled, but you are delayed in traveling. If this happens due to something like a long flight delay, travel insurance will help cover unexpected costs. These expenses include rebooking a hotel or a tour that you will miss because of the delay.
Average travel insurance for Colombia should include:
$2,000 to $10,000 in trip cancellation coverage
$2,000 to $10,000 in trip interruption coverage
$500 to $2,000 in trip delay coverage
The Best Travel Insurance for Colombia
There are lots of options for travel insurance for Colombia. Depending on what you need covered, your age and your travel style, you can choose among a number of plans.
Here are three of our favorite options.
1. World Nomads
World Nomads is a leader in the travel insurance space, and easily our preferred option. With extensive coverage and the ability to add extra insurance for extreme sports, World Nomads is an ideal option.
World Nomads set itself apart by offering 24/7 emergency assistance and coverage for over 150 adventure activities, from bungee jumping to mountain biking. Plus, unlike many companies that require you to buy insurance plans before you depart, you can purchase a World Nomads plan while you’re already on the road.
Just fill out the form below to get a quote!
2. Allianz
Allianz is another good travel insurance option in Colombia. The insurance company has a strong presence already in Colombia with local offices. And, if it’s any consolation, in 2017 alone, 35 million Americans purchased insurance from Allianz Global Assistance.
With Allianz , you can choose between Single Trip Plans and Annual Plans that cover multiple trips. You can also get yourself coverage for your rental car. The very basic single trip plan, for example, includes trip cancellation and interruption benefits, as well as limited post-departure benefits like emergency medical coverage and lost/damaged baggage benefits.
3. IM Global
Not all travel insurance in Colombia will cover travelers over the age of 65. IM Global, however, covers those 65 to 70 years old.
IM Global’s most popular plan is the Patriot Travel Medical Insurance, which covers travel medical insurance for individuals, families and groups. It’s renewable up to 24 months. And it offers deductible options from $0 to $2,500, with maximum limits from $50,000 to $2,000,000. Coverage includes medical expenses, evacuation and repatriation, so you can have peace of mind while traveling.
How to File a Claim with Your Travel Insurance if Something Goes Wrong in Colombia
With any luck, your trip to Colombia will go perfectly. If it doesn’t, however, it’s important to know how to file a claim with your travel insurance.
Every travel insurance company has a slightly different process for filing claims. In general, you will want to keep in mind the following guidelines.
Note: If it is a serious medical issue, call your travel insurance company immediately.
There is usually a 24-hour assistance hotline for such cases. By calling ahead, you can get information on what hospital is best to visit. Sometimes, you can also get advanced payment from the insurance company. That way, you won’t have to cover everything out of pocket up front.
1. Get Police and/or Medical Reports
To claim a stolen item, you will need to file a police report in Colombia. If you end up in the hospital for a medical issue, save all of your medical reports. You will have to submit these to your travel insurance company to back up your claim.
2. Save All of Your Receipts
You have to prove that something happened with the police records and medical reports that you’ve collected. You can prove your expenses or loss with these saved materials. If something of yours is stolen, you can even submit a copy of the original purchase receipt—so be sure to always save receipts, too.
3. Submit the Claim Online (or by Mail)
Most travel insurance companies will accept claims online. However, if they need additional information, you might have to mail in the original receipts, police reports, etc.
Your filing process will differ depending on the travel insurance company you choose. If you have any questions about filing, you can usually find a helpline on the company site.
Travel insurance is always a must. And because of the current political situations in and around Colombia, as well as all of the adventure activities available to you in the country, travel insurance is even more important.
Sure, Colombia is safer now than it has been in decades. But political violence, natural disasters, illnesses, emergencies and just plain bad luck can still happen. With travel insurance in Colombia, you can be prepared no matter how things pan out.
Before you jump on a plane to Colombia, decide on a travel insurance plan that’s right for you. It’s easy to shop around, plans are affordable and you have no excuse not to get it.
GET A QUOTE TODAY
READ MORE:
Is it Safe to Travel to Colombia?
The Best Travel Insurance Companies of 2019
Is Travel Insurance REALLY Worth It?
12 Smart Ways Keep Your Stuff Safe When You Travel
from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/32SpxA4
via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
lalunay
LA LUNA
whatthewhat85
We all have something that digs at us
indigometanoia
Imperfectionist's Thoughts
groovygames
cypher give good head
saiabolical
notorious gender thief