Travel Insurance
Check your existing insurance policies and credit card coverage before you buy travel insurance. You may already be covered for lost luggage, canceled tickets, or medical expenses.
The cost of travel insurance varies widely, depending on the cost and length of your trip, your age and health, and the type of trip you're taking, but expect to pay between 5% to 8% of the vacation itself. You can get estimates from various providers through InsureMyTrip.com.
Trip-Cancellation Insurance -- Trip-cancellation insurance will help you retrieve your money if you have to back out of a trip or depart early, or if your travel supplier goes bankrupt. Permissible reasons for trip cancellation can range from sickness to natural disasters to the State Department declaring a destination unsafe for travel.
For more information, contact one of the following recommended insurers: Access America (tel. 866/807-3982; www.accessamerica.com), Travelex Insurance Services (tel. 888/457-4602; www.travelex-insurance.com), Travel Guard International (tel. 800/826-4919; www.travelguard.com), Travel Insured International (tel. 800/243-3174; www.travelinsured.com).
Medical Insurance -- For travel overseas, most U.S. health plans (including Medicare and Medicaid) do not provide coverage, and the ones that do often require you to pay for services upfront and reimburse you only after you return home. As a safety net, you may want to buy travel medical insurance, particularly if you're heading to a remote or high-risk area where emergency evacuation might be necessary. If you require additional medical insurance, try MEDEX Assistance (tel. 410/453-6300; www.medexassist.com) or Travel Assistance International (tel. 800/821-2828; www.travelassistance.com; for general information on services, call the company's Worldwide Assistance Services, Inc., at tel. 800/777-8710).
Lost-Luggage Insurance -- On flights within the U.S., checked baggage is covered up to $2,500 per ticketed passenger. On international flights (including U.S. portions of international trips), baggage coverage is limited to approximately $9.07 per pound, up to approximately $635 per checked bag. If you plan to check items more valuable than what's covered by the standard liability, see if your homeowner's policy covers your valuables, get baggage insurance as part of your comprehensive travel-insurance package, or buy Travel Guard's "BagTrak" product.
If your luggage is lost, immediately file a lost-luggage claim at the airport, detailing the luggage contents. Most airlines require that you report delayed, damaged, or lost baggage within 4 hours of arrival. The airlines are required to deliver luggage, once found, directly to your house or destination free of charge.
Staying Healthy
Health concerns should comprise much of your preparation for a trip to Southeast Asia, and staying healthy on the road takes vigilance. Tropical heat and mosquitoes are the biggest dangers. Travelers should also exercise caution over dietary change and cleanliness. Just a few pre-trip precautions and general prudence, though, is all that you need for a safe and healthy trip.
General Availability of Health Care -- The best hospitals and health-care facilities are located in the large cities of countries that have the greatest number of Western visitors -- Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Bangkok (Thailand). In rural areas of these countries and throughout the lesser-developed countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, there are limited health-care facilities: Hospitals are few and far between and are generally of poor quality. Even in heavily touristed Bali, you're better off evacuating to one of the more developed countries if faced with a serious medical situation. Over-the-counter medications are available anywhere, but it's a good idea to bring antidiarrheal medication and rehydration salts, among others.
Contact the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT) (tel. 716/754-4883, or 416/652-0137 in Canada; www.iamat.org) for tips on health concerns and lists of local, English-speaking doctors in the countries you're visiting. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (tel. 800/311-3435; www.cdc.gov) provides up-to-date information on health hazards by region or country and offers tips on food safety. You can find listings of reliable clinics overseas at the International Society of Travel Medicine (www.istm.org). The website www.tripprep.com, sponsored by a consortium of travel medicine practitioners, may also offer helpful advice on traveling abroad.
What To Do If You Get Sick Away from Home -- Hospitals and emergency numbers are listed under "Fast Facts" in each destination section of the site. Any foreign embassy or consulate can provide a list of area doctors who speak English. If you get sick, consider asking your hotel concierge to recommend a local doctor -- even his or her own. You can also try the emergency room at a local hospital. Many hospitals also have walk-in clinics for cases that are not life-threatening; you may not get immediate attention, but you won't pay the high price of an emergency-room visit. In the larger cities of Southeast Asia, health care at hospitals and private clinics is of an international caliber and quite affordable.
You will need to pay in advance for any medical treatment and be reimbursed later.
If you suffer from a chronic illness, consult your doctor before your departure. Pack prescription medications in your carry-on luggage, and keep them in their original containers, with pharmacy labels -- otherwise they won't make it through airport security. Also bring the generic name of prescription medicines, in case a local pharmacist is unfamiliar with the brand name. Prescription medication is readily available, often over the counter.
