In 1999, I was among a team of eighteen volunteers building rural deep water wells in Peru. The only way to reach the remote mountain towns was by footpath. While traveling along a footpath, about 12km from the nearest village, I slipped off the trail and slid 70 meters down an embankment. The end result was two broken legs and a bruised lung.

There was no possible way to for the volunteers and local guides to carry me out and no vehicles that could fit on the path. The only option was to use a military helicopter to pull me out of the mountains. I was airlifted to Bogotá for emergency surgery to save the use of my right leg.

I thank god everyday that my volunteer group required travel insurance. The total cost for my fall was over $40,000. My insurance covered all but my aluminum crutches.

Never travel without insurance, trust me.

-Jack Moore

I think it was the piece of mind that really made me want to buy travel insurance. I knew my destination wasn’t a club-med holiday in Bermuda and if I got injured it was going to become very costly, very quickly.

I search on the internet and found a great policy, bought it online, and never gave it a second thought.

I think I was much more outgoing and active on my volunteer vacation knowing I was covered. If I hadn’t bought it, I think I would have been scared of having a stupid accident and falling into debt.

-Bill Frederickson

I am a registered nurse back in the states. Everyday I deal with uninsured families racked with debt because of an unforeseen accident. These family generally were not doing anything dangerous, they just happened be to in the street at the wrong time or step in the wrong place and now are $60,000 in the hole without the means of paying it back.

When I decided to volunteer abroad, the first thing I did was buy some good travel insurance.

-Amy Hallow

In Canada, we take free medical care for granted, just last week I cut my hand pretty bad on some broken glass and didn’t think twice before going to the hospital.

A well traveled friend of mine reminded me to get travel insurance after she made the mistake and broke her leg in Morocco on holiday, she had to sell her car to pay the fees.

I went online and bought it right away.

-Stacy Chook

I was involved in a car crash in Brazil. It wasn’t even my fault, but still I had to pay the medical bills. The truck driver that caused the accident wasn’t even caught. My parents had to western union $4,000 through the U.S. Embassy to pay for my medical bills. The hospital wouldn’t even let me leave until I had paid. It was a nightmare.

I am telling you, begging you in fact, buy medical insurance.

-Mark Goering