We did not purchase travel insurance when we traveled to Viet Nam to adopt Ella, but Sandra’s post reminded me that it’s something I wanted to look into for this adoption. Honestly, the only reason we didn’t get it last time was because I just could not wrap my head around researching another thing. I was curious about travel insurance and the necessity of it, so I did a little digging and here’s what I found.

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  Before leaving, travelers should contact their medical insurance companies to see what is (and is not) covered when you’re outside of the country. Also be sure to ask about coverage related to medical evacuation. If you become seriously ill and must leave the country, will you be covered? You should also check and see if your personal property insurance will cover you if you lose anything in Viet Nam or have anything stolen.
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  The U.S. Department of State’s International Travel webpage recommends travelers purchase a short term policy that will cover them while traveling outside of the country. They maintain a list of travel insurance providers here(scroll down.)



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  Your adoption agency may have recommendations of insurance companies that other families have purchased plans from. Consider asking them for information.
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  International SOS and Travel Guard are two travelers' insurance companies that are talked about on some of the Viet Nam adoption listservs and might be worth looking into.

Overall, I feel that this time around we will look into travelers insurance, especially for the medical and medical evacuation coverage. If we decide to take Ella, it would be a no brainer that we want her to be protected, and of course mom and dad should be covered too. If you have any positive or negative experiences with an international travel insurance company and would like to share, please comment below or email me at rebeccah@adoptionblogs.com

This isn’t insurance related, but still a good piece of information that I wasn’t aware of until today. You can register your travels with the United States State Department. By doing so, you will be able to be reached in an emergency or during times of crisis in the area you are visiting. The service is free and you can register here. https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/