Technology Platform for the trip

I really don't want to bring a laptop with us. A Sony Vaio is about as much weight as I'd be prepared to carry around with me, but besides being outside the budget, it's also not covered by the travel insurance (max item value 500 Euros). But I do want some computing power (well, connectivity power really) for a number of reasons.

1. To update this blog
2. To stay in touch with folks back home without paying a king's ransom (*)
3. To chronicle (offline) thoughts and experiences during the trip

The solution has finally begun to form in my mind: a combination of Nokia's newest Internet Tablet (N800) and a foldable keyboard (there's no way we're going to use anything buy a 'real' keyboard to type in the thousands of words that 8 months travel will inspire). Thanks to Conor for his back channel advice on the N770 versus the N800.

I've already picked up the very smart Freedom Universal Keyboard, which is a lovely piece of kit and fits a proper keyboard into a space about 1.3 time the size of my wallet. Payday is Friday - I feel the arrival of the N800 may follow shortly afterwards.

(*) As far as normal comms are concerned, when there isn't a wifi network within a Llama's spit, I'm studying movements on Roam4Free.

I'm very tempted to follow up the next month with this, but I think I may exceed my wife's Ryanair-like geek baggage allowance.

Getting the Right Travel Insurance

In a previous post I described the fairly poor selection of insurance options open to travelers who didn't fit in to a very restrictive category (backpacking students are OK, 3-week tripper families are fine too, but backpacking families are as well received as a fart in a church).

I've found two places that will entertain me with a quote. The first is WorldNomad which seems like a popular site and is recommended by Lonely Planet. I got the second quote quite simply by contacting the insurance brokers that helped me with my house and motor insurance: O'Leary Insurances right here in Cork.

First up, Nomad are cheaper at a little over 800 Euro. In fact when I told the Cork broker about their price his first reaction was to tell me to go with them! But I asked him to send me on a quote in any case, asking for a discount based on the fact that I was an existing customer. The price he came back to me with was 1100 Euros.

At face value I would be right to go with Nomad, but there's more to it than that. The insurance products on offer are actually very very different. For starters, the Nomad policy goes up to a maximum combined payout of 250,000 Euro per person per trip. So even if it appears that it'll pay 100% of hospitalization and 100% of Compassionate Emergency Repatriation, there is still that ceiling of 1M in total for the family (might sound like a lot, but compared to what other policies offer it's very modest). And it doesn't protect you in the case of cancellation nor does it cover activities like skiing.

My local insurance broker's suggestion, while costing almost 300 Euro more, has a lot going for it. Firstly, their is no overall ceiling - just a ceiling per cover section. So for example, there is a 6,350,000 Euro maximum per person for medical expenses. There's personal liability cover set at a max of 2.5 M Euro (as we're not going to the US, we're less in need of this kind of cover, but it's nice to have). Adventurous activities like skiing and scuba diving will most likely be covered without any need for extra on the premium. But most importantly, I'd have a broker - with his phone number and email address - that I could contact while on the road (or indeed on our return) to help with any questions or claims. That counts for an awful lot. Already he was able to answer a lot of questions about fine print, and offer advice on when I should actually take out the policy.

I'll do some extra fishing around, but so far, I have to say that O'Leary Insurances are worth the few extra euros.

Insurance says my kids are too young. Oh and I'm too old.

I've started to look around at Irish travel insurance options, before we buy the tickets so that cancellation of same is covered. I've looked as VHI, AIB, AA, ETravelInsure, USIT, JustCover, and GetCover so far. There are many more out there and I'll keep trying. But the problem is that they all offer the same thing! The prices do vary of course, but there isn't a single product out there that covers what I'm looking for.

If I want to cover the family, then I can only stay away for maximum 90 days at a time (what happens after that? Do we suddenly transform at the end of the third month into a bunch of walking insurance liabilities?)

If I want a long-stay, then the kids have a lot of growing up to do. They have to become over 18 in most cases. There is even one policy that excludes all but 18-35 year olds. Oh my god - I'm separated from the kids by the yawning abyss of an entire insurance category!!!!

I noticed that AIB's url includes the words travel-cover.inabox. Small enough box there lads. And very boxy as well.

Now I know that right policy is out there, but based on the fact that we don't seem to fit into anybody's box (ahem) I'm expecting absurd premia. We shall see. Is this another example of the small Irish insurance market doing exactly what they want?

I'll be back.