Hey Kendra Girl,
This is a topic that you and I both resonate with as we are a part of the Nervous Nellie line in the Hartwell Clan. Holidays are supposed to be fun and not fraught with what-if worries. So we turn what-if's into action items.
Working several years at a high hazard facility, it was drummed into our heads to proactively identify risks & reduce them using a graded approach (the more serious risks received more attention and investment). With that in mind your mom and I purchased travel interruption & cancellation coverage for the first time in our lives. This insurance isn't cheap, especially to cover a month of travel. But with earthquakes, capricious airlines, and bad luck (the only kind of luck I have), buying some peace of mind for this very expensive trip made it an easy decision. Similarly, when we picked up the car rental, we were offered extended coverage on the auto. I knew my auto coverage at home in Canada plus the BCAA coverage provided through our membership provided adequate insurance, so additional coverage wasn't planned and was initially declined at the counter. However, while standing there when the agent began to ring up a $5000 deposit on the car, I began to think differently. The additional coverage was going to cost ~$10 per day and I had already obtained an excellent rate for the car from EuroCar rentals. In addition, I knew I was traveling to a very rugged Chilean national park comprised exclusively of gravel roads. So, in short I decided to spend an extra hundred bucks.
There is one risk reduction strategy that I shouldn't have to mention. That no-brainer is to keep passports, cash, and cards close to the chest in a bag around the neck. For me they serve as a touch stone, that I am reminded I is right there and not in my backpack or on the dresser at the last hotel.
A couple of other risk reduction strategies included developing a comprehensive spreadsheet itinerary and a folder of key documents and copies of other documents. This included copying our passports and health insurance details; printing maps from Google regarding the detailed location of hotels (rather than relying on Google Maps from an iPhone in a foreign country); and purchasing maps of the region and a detailed map of the national park (when getting the rental car, we asked for a map & the fellow smiled & said we didn't need a map - just turn left when leaving the airport - we couldn't miss our destination as it was 250 km ahead!).
I remember you were pretty insistent we provide you our detailed itinerary. Of course you and our house sitter have all that info and can reach us with a phone call if needed.
Of course if you are going to wear belts and suspenders, you might as well add a wrap or two of duct tape around your waist. Having PDF files on the computer and using gmail that includes all the back and forth with the hotels related to payments, dates, contacts etc. was the final bit of redundancy I felt we needed.
Lastly, arriving with cash in the local currency we had the peace of mind knowing we didn't need to find a cash machine that would take our card (I had a bad time of that in Poland 18 months ago and couldn't hire a cab to get me from the airport to the bus station). It is perhaps a bit over the top, but having both a Visa and Mastercard (whom we pre-alerted of our travel plans) has already helped us as the MC was rejected the first five times we attempted to use it.
I know everybody else probably thinks this stuff is boring, but for an independant traveler they are critical. In fact, the dependent traveler presumably enjoys the freedom from worry as they delegate risk reduction to their tour guide. Hopefully, that guide is as competent and thorough as you or I would be. If they aren't, by the time you discover that fact, you are hooped as we say.
OK - next time more fun photos.
Love and Calmness,
Dad.
Ps. We returned the rental with no dings or nicks, so extra insurance wasn't necessary. Of course all the gravel road driving we did certainly provided lots of opportunity for it.
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