What’s one piece of travel advice you always follow?
If I had to compress my travel advice into one word, it would be insure—but insurance of more than one kind. There is no single piece of advice that suits every travel purpose, yet travel insurance comes closest: I buy it for every trip, though not every insurance company honours its plans.
Safety always precedes all attractions, but safety is never a 100% certainty—nor does travel insurance guarantee 100% safety. Yet it provides remedies for your losses or medical costs, especially in a very nasty situation where heavy medical expenses and an emergency flight transfer to your home city may be incurred. Insurance, however, is only one component of a safety plan. Local knowledge is a prerequisite for heightening safety and pleasure during a trip—and the same research that keeps you out of harm’s way also leads you to the places and people worth meeting.
Take me, for example. I often hired a car and drove around the countries I visited, so I checked traffic accident black spots and prevalent crime patterns to know what to watch out for. That habit of local knowledge paid a second dividend: it drew me towards the countryside and villages that guidebooks overlook. In the 1980s, I chose countries with the most beautiful countryside, like Bali. I bought a large bag of sweets and distributed them to children who crossed paths with me. In those remote villages, the children couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak Balinese—our connection was through smiling and shaking hands. The experience was so precious, and the children’s smiles still linger with me.
Safety, pleasure, and connecting with locals through dialogue and small gestures of kindness have worked well throughout my travel experiences in about twenty countries. If insurance protects the body, kindness protects the journey.
As a Christian, I am a transient citizen of the world, and I carry a second insurance. My life insurance is my faith in the Lord Christ Jesus. Scripture is my safety catch; the Holy Spirit is my guide; and communion with God is my everlasting pleasure. The covenant with the Lord has no expiry date—a guaranteed pay-off, everlasting, from earth to my eternal home.
