Travel insurance isn’t something we buy automatically for every trip — and it’s not something we think about as a way to “get our money back.”
For us, travel insurance is about risk management and peace of mind, especially as parents. It’s one of those places where frugality shows up not as spending as little as possible, but as spending intentionally to protect against the things that would matter most if something truly went wrong.
The Coverage We Care About Most: Medical and Evacuation
The primary reason we buy travel insurance is medical coverage, especially medical evacuation.
When we travel internationally — particularly in places where access to high-quality medical care may be limited — we want to know that if a serious emergency happened, we wouldn’t be making decisions based on cost or logistics alone.
Evacuation coverage matters to us because:
- It can cover transport to appropriate medical care
- It can help get us home if needed
- It removes uncertainty during already stressful situations
This becomes especially important on trips to places like Central America or South America, where medical infrastructure can vary widely depending on location. On trips within Europe, we sometimes feel less urgency about this coverage — but we still think carefully about it.
As parents, that peace of mind is worth a lot. Knowing we have a plan in place lets us travel with less background anxiety and more presence.
Would We Think About This Differently Without Kids?
Probably.
Or maybe not entirely — it’s hard to say.
But having kids absolutely raises the stakes. When more people are involved, and when those people depend on you, the cost of uncertainty is higher. Travel insurance helps reduce that uncertainty.
It’s not about assuming something bad will happen. It’s about acknowledging that if something did, we’d want support immediately — not a financial problem to solve first.
Cancellation Coverage: A Hedge, Not a Guarantee
We do like having some cancellation coverage, but we’re realistic about what it’s for.
We don’t try to insure every dollar of a trip. Instead, we think about cancellation coverage as a hedge — especially for:
- Large, non-refundable expenses
- Trips booked far in advance
- Experiences that would be difficult to rebook or reschedule
We don’t expect travel insurance to make us whole in every scenario. That’s not how we use it, and that expectation would push us toward buying more coverage than we actually need.
For us, the goal is to soften the impact of major disruptions, not eliminate all risk.
Why This Fits Our Definition of Frugal Travel
Buying travel insurance is a good example of how we think about frugality.
Frugal doesn’t mean:
- Gambling on best-case scenarios
- Ignoring low-probability, high-impact risks
- Optimizing every dollar at the expense of peace of mind
For us, frugal means:
- Thinking through consequences
- Spending a little to avoid catastrophic costs
- Making choices that support sustainable travel over time
Travel insurance helps us travel more confidently and more calmly — and that has real value.
When We Might Skip Travel Insurance
We don’t buy travel insurance automatically.
For example, we might skip it for:
- Short domestic trips
- Trips with fully refundable bookings
- Low-cost travel where the financial risk is minimal
Like most travel decisions, this isn’t all-or-nothing. It’s contextual.
A Quiet Form of Preparation
Travel insurance isn’t the most exciting part of trip planning, and it’s not something we think about once we’re actually traveling.
But that’s kind of the point.
Having it in place allows us to focus on the experience itself — exploring, learning, and being together — rather than worrying about what-ifs.
And for our family, that peace of mind is well worth the cost.