Hi everybody and welcome to an all new post. So today is my first ever in the US and I just had a beautiful Flight to come all the war till over here yesterday. And right now I’m in New York. I preferred to take a hotel in New York yesterday because I’ve been to go three hours away to North Haven in connecticut.
I am here in the US because my best friend is getting married. And because i have already been to US a couple of times before. I have a lot of advice for you guys. Especially if you think of coming down here.
But today I will tell you the story of an incident that will absolutely convince you that you should not travel without travel insurance? Especially if you are traveling to country like the US Okay, I checked out very quickly first. Because there checkout time at 11:00 and there is a late fee, if you don’t do it on time.
Secondly, if you start comparing everything here, then it is very expensive. Like this hotel room was at $100 per night. But when I told the cab driver last night that I got so much rental. So he was literally shocked that how did you get it so cheap? While for me, it is very expensive. And right now, I have to go to Connecticut, so I saw the Uber’s cost for there. So that will be around $450 If I take the uber, but I thought why not save a little. And if I take the train then I will have to pay $ 30 So I’m thinking of taking a train from here. But I have three bags and one of them, It’s a very big bag. So I am thinking that I should wear this bag in my shoulders because it also has shoulder pad, along with dragging wheels.
So let’s go, i think I’m just gonna quickly book an uber to go to Grand Central. Let’s go Thank you so much. Your welcome So anyway at this point, let me start a story of something very important. Look, travelling feels very glamorous from the outside. But on some level, it is also very risky like anything can happen at any point in time. And you know what my cab driver actually told me while picking me up that the area, I was living in, was not such a good area. Especially for the solo female Independent travelers like myself.
Oops So what are the things that can actually go wrong. I feel like you can get pickpocketed at any point in time. Loose your phone, passport, misplace a bag, or something even more serious like accident or injuries, burglaries, armed robberies, shooting. And you know what, while traveling you have to take all of these things into account. Okay, we have reached? Yes. Bye Bye Allwright
So I’m beside the Grand Central. So basically here is the entrance from the road. & I came in quickly because it was raining outside and I have to drag two bags. I don’t know, I still don’t know how I’m going to do it. From Grand Central’s main entrance I have to go to the main hall. & the main hall is also called Vanderbilt hall. It has also a little bit of history here. Which I am really intrigued by & you know what’s a good thing about history, I feel like it’s a collection of stories from your past which you can always take away something or learn something.
So this was in the year 2012 and I came to the US with my family. And I went to Aruba with me and my big family, with both of my uncles, aunts and some of their family friends And this was the first time I was ever visiting a Caribbean Island. So needless to say I was very excited about it. And I was 18 at that point in time and I had just gone to college. And my cousins were also on this trip. So we were having a ball of a time. & on one of the days, the parents decided to surprise all of the kids with jet skiing
So obviously, who doesn’t like water activities? And in Aruba, you could actually not only just sit on a tandem jet ski But you could also drive by yourself. So I was on a jet ski all by myself, my cousin was also there for some time behind me and in between my cousin decided to switch with me. And my cousin was very young. So when he was driving, he accelerated and took a very very sharp turn. And as soon he took a sharp turn, we both fell into the water. We were wearing life jackets, so nothing happened. But we just had to struggle a bit to get back on the jet ski But what ended up happening was that I used to wear contacts at that point in time. Because I didn’t have my Lasik surgery then. And my contacts fell into the water & that was only pairs of contacts that I was carrying on that vacation. How dumb!
So that same evening, we were all back in the hotels & we were playing a game in the swimming pool. & that game was sort of invented by all of us kids and cousins. Because we filled up like this empty bottle of Coca Cola with swimming pool water. & we were tossing it around & catching it. Now because of the weight of the water inside the Bottle, the bottle became really heavy. Ideally, we should have been playing with the frisbee or with a Volleyball or a water-appropriate ball. And then of course, when you invent game like these, something has to go wrong. And unfortunely I was the receiver of the wrong on that particular day. Because while tossing around the bottle, the bottle came, & it hit my glasses.
Because that day I lost my contacts and I was wearing my glasses inside the swimming pool. And as soon as it came and hit my eye, there was a lot of shooting pain & I screamed. I found a way that i can drag my bag more easily and also Blog. So we’ve got a 01:34 PM departure train. Just I have to figure out where I will get tickets from. Excuse me.
And as soon as I screamed everybody scurried and come to my rescue. Took me out of the swimming pool. My Glass entirely shattered in my eye. And because of that it turned into a very serious injury. And i had to be rushed to the ER in Aruba. I don’t even know thinking back, How were the medical health facilities there? From what I remember they were pretty good. But it’s still a little scary to think that something like that can happen to you on a vacation. So at the ER, we waited it out for sometime and then the doctor saw what had happened to my eye and said that I would need stitches. Because there was a cut on top of my eye on the eyelid. Fortunately, the eye was okay.
So for the rest of this trip, I ended up with an eye patch. And that looked kind of cool also made me look like a pirate but also ruin all of my pictures So that wasn’t a very fun experience. Also the injury itself was really really painful. And thw more than anything, I think what hurt the most was that cost of getting stitches done in Aruba, was $300. And my father had to pay out of pocket for that particular injury because I didn’t even earn then. so obviously, my father was sponsoring the entire trip. And not only did my family have to incur the cost of the injury but also when we came back from the US, my father had to also rush me to the hospital to get the stitches removed. Because we couldn’t have removed those stitches ourselves, they weren’t dissolvable kinds of stitches. And the charge of removing it was also $100 unnecessarily. So the entire cost was Rs. 30,000. Just because I met with an accident while traveling. We are here.
The next station is New Haven. This is where we have to get off. Right now I have to start collecting all my stuff again. This is such comfortable journey that I just completely forget that I have three bags to carry. Let’s go So I had to taken the elevator from the platform all the way to the ground floor. I just wanted to show you that the stations here look very nice And more than anything trains help you to save money.
Hi, How are you? I’m good. Good to see you. Good to see you too As far as money was concerned, let me tell you that the $400 expense that we had to incur, back in 2012. because of that accidental medical situation was honestly a huge amount my family. I felt very bad at that point in time that because of me we had to incur such a big expense But one good thing came out of that entire situation.
When we came back to India, My father had saved all of the Medical Bills. And we had also bought travel insurance before leaving on this US trip. So what that basically meant was that we could raise a claim for getting all that money back. It took some time for is to get the money back, but we did after approximately one or two months which I think was a great thing. And that is why I’m one of the biggest advocates of travel insurance. When it comes to buying travel insurance, this is my most favorite part before any of my trips. Because I get to pick and choose from so many options. And for all insurance needs, I genuinely trust Policy Bazaar, because I think they give a very good comparison which is very holistic. And it makes you understand what your requirement is.
First of all, you can compare, out of the top insurer, which of them is the best plan, according to your requirement? Like there are more than 25 plus plans and 8 plus top Insurers across the globe, which provide really good insurance option, at very affordable prices. & then of course there are a lot of different plans that you can pick and choose from, for example, whether it’s a single trip or whether you are a students or frequent flyer or what is the purpose of your trip. And the best part is that in Policy Bazaar, you can instantly get insurance. It’s a matter of seconds all you have to do is, select your plan, select coverage, how many days. You will also fill all of the meters. After that you will get your insurance in seconds. & the share convenience of it is what I love the most.
Oh, and I forget to tell you the most important part. Now if you have bought the insurance and it is also suitable for you, but when you need it’s actual benefit. Such as claiming baggage loss or medical emergency Policy Bazaar also helps you with claim settlement & I think that’s very useful.
So I’ve reached North Haven. And North Haven is where, Aditi’s to-be husband’s family is based. They live just down the block from this Airbnb that Aditi has booked for me. I am staying in this Airbnb with Aditi’s family So her Mother Father and Brother are also here. I’ve obviously known Aditi’s family for very very long time. Because I think we are friends since we were 13-14 years old. Now i’m getting to see her get married. Can you see the birds, they are all eating at the bird feeder.
What a nice view. And there are so many different varieties of birds which comes here. This home feels like it has a lot of history behind it. Now if the camera breaks, I’d have to use my insurance for accidental equipment damage. Hi aunty, Hi How are you liking the place? I think it’s lovely. Isn’t it? Such interesting artifacts. Everything is so fascinating inside the house. & honestly let me reiterate this once again. Travel looks really fancy on the outside, like I’m showing you my Airbnb, walking you around. I am showing you adventure sports in most of my posts. But I can’t stress this enough that I’d never go anywhere without travel insurance.
Like if you are going to Europe, it is mandatory to show your travel insurance for your visa application. So most people just buy it for the heck of it. But no one knows its benefits. And there are many benefits, what should I say? For example, if you have to do a doctor’s consultation, inpatient treatment, dental emergencies, you having a toothache in the middle of your trip, any kind of evacuation you need. If you, unfortunately, meet with an accident or pass away. Even the repatriation of mortals remains, and these are just related to medical expenses.
But also from trip-related like hotels get cancelled, Flight get delayed, you miss your connecting flight. Anything that happens trip related, even if your hotel gets canceled for some reason. You can claims for all of these related issues as well. And if there is baggage loss, for example, yesterday I was at JFK airport, when I’m picking up my luggage, I was very scared because nowadays a lot of news is coming that people’s lugguage is being lost a lot these days. So if any of that would have happened, I could have made a claim for that as well. Look, I lost my luggage. I need money. And especially because I also carry a lot of expensive equipment like my camera, laptop, all of these things.
So I always make sure that the Insurance I pick, their amount, especially for baggage loss, is quite good. So that if I lose any of my important equipment I get at least one benefit that I get its money back. And then there are other expenses also which are covered like legal expenses. If you get jailed, you need bail, a lawyer, anything. I’m so happy that I Still have time over the evening which is why I’ve walked down to George & Joan’s House, which is Aditi’s in-law’s house. They have a very good pool here.
So I’m very excited about taking a dip. It’s just me, it’s just me guys, hello Archu, Archer Stop barking I jumped out of the pool and my hair’s crazy right now. It’s Ok I’m gonna jump in the pool and then my hair will become crazy. Hi Joan Hi How are you doing? I’m Good, so happy to have you. Same here Thank you Hi Kathrin Hi And over here we are already doing some wedding preparation.
Hi Oh hello That’s George everybody, to be husband. And that basically brings me to today, so there are so many activities that you can do while you are traveling. Like Scuba Diving, Free Driving, Trek, Hikes. Today, I’m going on a boat trip & all of these activities are risky activities. But you can’t keep stopping yourself from doing fun things in life, right.
Okay, so today we are going for a boat tour. So I have Aditi’s parents with me over here, Aunty & Uncle.
Hi
– Hi And over here, i also have Vikram.
Hello So Vikram, I and uncle going for a boat tour, Aunty is not coming. Yeah Why you are not coming? Let’s enjoy the time. So right now, we are working down to Aditi’s in-law’s house. This Airbnb is barely like two minutes walk which is great.
Hi Good morning George Just checking the marine forecast. So we are just headed eight miles out to Brantford Harbor. And that is where the boat is parked. It’s George’s boat. This is something I’ve never done before. Like, on a personal boat. Oh my gosh, we are at the dock. This is so exciting. Before we go to the boat I really want to show you something. Members only on the dock, boat owners and guests only. I feel like such an excited kid. So, that’s the bed inside. And this is the bathroom In case of an emergency In case of an emergency you can always use this. And do you also need boat the license? Yes, you need it more of a safety thing. They don’t teach you, how to drive a boat or anything. Oh, you have to learn this yourself. Yeah, kind of So it’s, it’s showing you the different depth levels. And it also shows the rocks that are underneath the water. It’ll show you where the shipwrecks are. And yes while all of these activities, while traveling are risky per se but I think I have come to a point in life where I value experiences more than fear.
Learning while traveling versus sitting at home, and honestly enjoying every moment as it comes. Because that is what makes for great memories. We are out here somewhere, these are Thimble Island where we are headed. So now we are at the place called Thimble Island And these are these little rock structures spread across the water. And they also have houses on them. So they are privately owned houses on top of these islands. So this looks like a really rich area.
And now it’s really warm outside, We are just opening up some cans of drinks. so we have some cranberry juice. Uncle, how’s it taste? Very nice, very nice. So we are back from the boat trip and currently, George is flushing out the engine which means that, all the water that was collected in there has to come out. Now we are back to our Airbnb. And I think I can say this for everyone but this was such a fun morning.
In fact as soon as we get off the boat, uncle’s first words we This is life right, this is living! So with this, we come to the end of today’s post. I loved talking about today’s topic which was insurance. And I hope you found it useful. If you did, please make sure that you give it a fat thumbs up and also leave a comment in the comment section below.
Don’t ever skip this step, Especially, if you doing any kind of trip planning. Go a head check out the Policy Bazaar, the link is in the description box below. And I will see you next time with the whole new Blog. Alright guys, bye. What a pretty home is this, man, who would want to leave here?