Insurance

One thing that is different about this trip than the North Pole is I will be more responsible - to myself and loved ones, not that I wasn't or haven't been :) - to get travel insurance.

I never bought any insurance for my travelling. I believe in responsible travelling but I also believe that things happen for a reason. I am by no means a spritual person but I do think fate brings one to the circumstances they are in.

Anyway, back to the North Pole trip, I wanted to get some coverage but couldn't find any that is reasonably priced. I searched all over the net and did my homework comparing them. The cheapest I found at the time was almost $2000. I know 2 grand was just a fraction of the overall cost but for me, every dollar counts. So I decided not to get any kind of travel insurance. Actually it was recommended but not enforced, so I opted out. It wasn't a really smart thing to do, I'll admit. Especially for North Pole. Many things could go wrong. I could break my ankles during the ski and need an evacuation. I could fall into the water. Etc. Thank God nothing happened, not even frostbites!

South Pole trip is going to be different though. I cannot affort not to have any insurance, because ANI requires all participants to be insured. Also, I think it's better to pay a little to get peace of mind (for my family at least). I asked Angie (from ANI), she gave a few names and one of them was AIG. When I heard that, I couldn't help but joked that we already bailed them out (of the financial collapse), time for them to pay back and why I have to give them more money.

Anyways, I did some research on those given by Angie. One carrier seems to be really good and well priced. They claim to cover the whole world, even remote regions. However, they never explicitly claim they cover the South Pole, so I chatted up with the help desk. The operator told me since they cover the whole world, South Pole will be covered. I hope this is true. You really have to understand what they mean by "the whole world" and if there's any fine prints. So the cost is amazing. For one month, it'll cost roughly $500. I'm gonna have to take up on this deal, but not now. I'll get it when I turn in the rest of the forms to ANI. Really hope they don't increase the premium by that time!