Erin Fish is my travel insurance partner, and before you roll your eyes thinking this is just a boring sales pitch - hear me out. This is one of those partnerships that happened organically because Erin genuinely gives a shit about travelers and the world, not just profits.

Erin co-founded Wanderwell Travel Insurance, a certified B Corp that's legally required to consider their impact on travelers, employees, and the planet. While most travel insurance companies feel designed to collect your money and find creative ways to avoid paying claims, Wanderwell actually walks you through the process like humans instead of robots.

We're diving into why travel insurance isn't just another expense to grudgingly add to your trip budget, but actually one of the smartest investments you can make in your adventures. From the traveler stuck in a Thai hospital with dengue fever to someone whose entire European itinerary got derailed by a massive air traffic control meltdown - Erin's seen it all.

This conversation covers the real stuff: when you actually need coverage, the difference between travel insurance and your credit card "coverage," and why some claims involve people sleeping outside under desert stars (you'll have to listen for that story).

Upcoming Trips Mentioned:

1. Morocco: April 10 - April 19, 2026
2. Cuba: Dec 27, 2025 - Jan 3, 2026
3. India: Feb 25 - March 7, 2026
4. Kenya: March 25 - April 4, 2026

Links & Resources (Erin):

1. Get travel insurance through Wanderwell
2. Learn more about Wanderwell
3. Follow Wanderwell on social: @go.wanderwell

Links & Resources (Laura):

1. Follow my personal IG: @lolawhiskey
2. Follow my business IG: @lauraericsongrouptrips
3. Follow our podcast: @type2travelpodcast
4. Learn more about upcoming trips: lauraericson.com
5. Check out our podcast page: lauraericson.com/podcast
6. Join my Facebook group: @lolalovestravel

Thanks for being here! As always, rate, review, share with a friend, and tag us if you’re listening.

Hey everyone, I'm Laura Ericson and welcome back to Type 2 Travel. Today I'm talking with Erin Fish and this conversation is a little different because Erin is actually my travel insurance partner. before you stop this podcast and roll your eyes and think this is just going to be some boring sales pitch, hear me out. This is one of those partnerships that happened organically and I think that's the way that the best business relationships happen. I met Erin through a mutual friend in 2021 right around the time I was starting to seriously think about starting a travel business.

My friend said you two need to know each other and honestly he couldn't have been more right. What started as a Zoom chat turned into one of those conversations where you realize you've found your people. Someone who just gets what you're trying to build and shares the same values about how business should be done. Erin co-founded Wanderwell Travel Insurance and here's what makes them different. They're a certified B Corp, which means they're legally required to consider their impact on travelers, employees, and the planet, not just profits.

While most travel insurance companies feel like they're designed to collect your money and then find creative ways to avoid paying claims, Wanderwall actually gives a shit about its customers and the world. They offer modern plans with real benefits, they'll walk you through the claims process like humans instead of robots, and they donate at least 1 % of their revenue to environmental nonprofits through 1 % for the planet. But what I really love about Erin is that he's truly seen it all. From the traveler who ended up in a Thai hospital with dengue fever,

to the one whose entire European itinerary got derailed by a massive air traffic control meltdown. He's not here to scare you into buying travel insurance, he's here to help you understand why having coverage is actually your ticket to traveling with confidence instead of that constant background anxiety of, what if something goes wrong? Erin has become not just a business partner, but a genuine advocate and inspiration for my work, a fellow member of the Transformational Travel Council, and someone I'm proud to call a friend.

Today we're diving into why travel insurance isn't just another expense to gradually add to your trip budget, but actually one of the smartest investments you can make in your adventures. So without further ado, let's chat with

Hey adventurers, I'm Laura Ericson and this is Type 2 Travel, where the journey might occasionally make you question your life choices, but the stories are always worth it. Just like Type 2 fun, we're diving into those travel experiences that transform us, challenge us, and connect us. So grab your passport and an extra dose of curiosity. Let's get lost

welcome, Erin, to the podcast. So happy to have you here today.

So good to be here Laura, it's always good to see you.

Alright, so before we get into all the really exciting stuff about travel insurance, let's first ask you some quick travel questions to get to know you. What's the most unexpected place travel has taken you?

most unexpected place. I did not know I was gonna go here and

It was just planned kind of like last minute. was going along with a group of people that I had met when I was in Israel and we went down to the Sinai Peninsula

He was in the Red Sea and I went scuba diving and I had people that I was sharing a room with who I did not know very well and they were being a little bit inappropriate and I needed to give them some privacy. So I ended up sleeping outside and under those desert stars about a hundred meters from the water.

and it was for like a week I slept outside and it was awesome. I only slept outside for like maybe, no I think it was two nights I slept outside but I didn't have a complaint. It was one of the more memorable experiences of my life was just really really peaceful and I met some great people it was all sort of unexpected just hopped on a bus.

You slept outside for a week?

Yeah, well that's what the type 2 fauna is all about. It's the stuff that seems a little weird at the time, but ends up being your best memories.

what's one item that you never leave home without and you cannot say travel insurance?

That's funny. Something tangible.

something tangible.

I really like to read, but I don't read at home very often. always bring a book and or my Kindle when I'm traveling, and I'll end up reading when I travel.

Hmm, you're such a better person than I am. I want to read and I just don't. I do audiobooks, I'm one of those people that I buy books and I really have good intentions of reading them and I just never do, especially when I travel.

Cause you want to though, you like feel that like, I'm going to go do this.

yeah, I stopped bringing

the books because who are we kidding? It's just another thing I'll bring a book to five countries and then I'm like, this is a joke. I'm not reading this. I want to though. I want to really bad. I used to be like that with TV too. Like I want to watch it. I just didn't have the time. So now I do audio books just because I'm more likely to do it while I'm traveling or while I'm busy doing something, driving.

You

I just can't sit still, but I have a long list of books that I would love to read

Have you ever had a travel experience that made you think, thank God I had insurance?

Recently we had experience traveling, and I bought the travel insurance our greater family for a trip, and a member of our family had a medical emergency. And...

Mm-hmm.

That person didn't ever think of buying travel insurance. I just made sure that I bought it for the entire family.

And we had a medical emergency and submitted a claim and it was all paid. So it was good. worse.

That's awesome.

I've definitely had times where I wish I had gotten it. I can answer that very

and half the time it's not even because I'm unwilling to do it, it's like I forget about it, or all of a sudden I'm leaving for a trip and it's too late to get it now, and I should have gotten it, but yeah, I've had some situations where I was either stranded, or my hotel wasn't covered in a layover, or

in a flight delay or my baggage has gotten damaged I've had so many, so many situations where I wish I had done it. but we'll get into that.

Yeah, you

travel, I mean, obviously it's because of your job, but also because of your passion, you travel more than most. You're in more of those experiences. And you and I have talked a little bit about ways to have almost something that's always covering you, a coverage that's always on. it may be appropriate.

Mm-hmm.

for you, who's traveling so often. And you know what's tough? Because don't like to be, although this is my profession, and I wanna guide people, I very often wear an agent hat, but I don't wanna be selling something. I never feel like, even though our company's actually selling something, there's no pressure. I just wanna be kind, proper expectations, and...

Mm-hmm.

say, no, here's what you could do, even if you don't go with our company. happens is a lot of times people will come to me and say, don't talk me into buying travel insurance. I'm not, you ask me questions, I'll answer you. I don't need travel insurance. Yeah, you're right, because it's a luxury item.

may not feel you need it, but you may wish that you had it, kind like you said. And so what happens a lot of times is people will get in touch with us and say, I didn't buy from you last time. I needed it. Okay, I'm doing it now. people's negative experiences sometimes turn into let me get some peace of mind now. And then maybe after three trips, they're like, why do I do this? I haven't used it.

Yeah, well, and I feel like this is insurance in general, not travel insurance, nobody wants to buy insurance. it's not a fun thing to pay for. Nobody wants it on their house. Nobody wants it on the car. Nobody wants health insurance. we want to be covered, but we don't want to have to pay for these things because odds are we won't have to use it. But if we do, we're going to be pissed off if you don't have it.

Yeah,

it's, yeah, your odds are, which is how insurance companies also end up making money because but that's why I like to think of travel insurance as actually some peace of mind and it can be used to protect the investment of your trip and you and your loved ones while you're on the trip.

they're playing the ads.

Mm-hmm.

Right. just to add on to something you were just talking about with me and people wishing they had travel insurance, and I've heard this from other people who travel professionally, the more I travel, the less prepared I am and the more irresponsible I get. I feel like I'm so

risk adverse at this point. I'm kind of like, yeah, I'm I'm leaving tomorrow. I haven't packed yet. I don't know where I'm going. I'm so unprepared sometimes because I travel so often. I don't think I don't think through that like checklist like maybe somebody who travels once or twice a year does where they're like sometimes I have people asking me nine months ahead of time. every question about their trip and I'm like

I don't know what I'm doing next week much less nine months from now. I just don't operate that way anymore. And I think that's common when you travel all the time. you're almost less responsible about it. And that's not a good thing.

Hmm, what do you feel though that you're also, because there's so much repetition, because it is almost like you're always on, that you are actually prepared, you may just not feel that way?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think there is a level of people are always like, my god, do you have any impact yet? And I pack for a living. it's not that hard for me to pack. I don't even unpack half the time. yes. So I mean, it's part of it is I'm less worried about it because I know I have it handled or it's pretty simple for me in a lot of ways. But also, there's times where I make dumb mistakes because

I just don't think about trips and travel the way I used to where I would like make sure I had everything figured out. not with my groups, but with my own travel. I'm just much more likely to miss something now because I'm just not thinking about it until the last second. And that's where the travel insurance has come in for me a couple of times where like, I got to get my e-sim and didn't get travel insurance. And now I've missed that window and now I can't get it anymore. I know better, but.

⁓

Well, you can always get it.

When I'm traveling every month, I

don't think about it, you know,

Yeah, I have a friend who maybe once a week she was traveling for business. she'd always have roller bag, and it was always packed no matter what. So she would come home from the trip, she would do all the laundry, pack the bag again, even if she wasn't leaving for a month.

She would pack the bag again, have her own toiletry case only for that bag. And then so when she got up that morning, was boom, that was it.

I have a variation of that that's a lot less prepared, but basically I pull out everything from my bag, like my laundry and stuff like that. I look at where I'm going next, and if, I'm bringing something that I won't need on the next trip, I pull it out and put it away. But if it's anything that I'm gonna be taking again, it all stays in my bag and it stays packed, and I have a travel version of everything and that never comes out of my bag. it just stays there because...

Yeah

I'm not gonna take this out for two weeks and then put it back in. So my bag kind of always stays packed. And sometimes I leave my clothes in it too because I'm lazy. I'm like, this is a problem for future me.

Yeah, you just reminded me.

Yeah, let me learn from this. You just reminded me of something you said to me recently that stuck with me. So, major plug here for all the type 2 travel listeners who are going to be or considering booking ⁓ a group trip. Here's a big plug for Laura Erickson.

And something that I don't see often is know where you're going. so you're saying you think about where you're going next and you were telling me about how, no, no, no, I will make a very clear packing list for the place we're going. if you're going there on your fam trip and you're realizing, I need to have this type of bug spray or you may need to have these types of pants for this time of year when we're going on this trip. having that packing list that is curated for

that destination, the time of year you're going. is a level of duty of care that you're providing think gets lost often when people are going to a group trip.

Yeah.

I would agree just from my own personal experience is when I go on group trips sometimes it's a tailored packing list but it's never as detailed as I would have made it and I'm always frustrated

I mean, I'm too close to it. when I feel like someone has not prepared me well for a trip, I'm hyper critical of it. And I'm like, I would have done this. I would have done that. I would have told somebody this. I wouldn't have left somebody in this situation. And that is why I scout. People always think the scouting isn't necessary. And I disagree because it's not just that I've gone to all the and done the activities. It's also that.

I had to go through that process of being ill-prepared and somebody didn't tell me to bring this and then I had to suffer for it. you don't get that experience if you don't scout. so usually people don't realize I'm getting the very much down and dirty rough experience usually because I'm not being prepared properly I'm making all the mistakes I'm going through it and making notes along the way to make sure that when my groups come, they don't have to suffer without

Bug spray or whatever half the time. It's my fault. I could have probably researched it But sometimes I think if you're traveling with a company it should be their responsibility to tell you how to prepare That's what people are expecting

Yeah, well, you personally may feel that you're being irresponsible to your own but you're being very responsible for your traveling clients.

Yeah, I mean, I can suffer. I don't want other people to suffer because of me. And then they're like, she didn't tell us she's been here six times. How does she not know? I was just talking to my Morocco group. That's my trip in a month. those women are like, we need our packing list they're ready for it. They're waiting. And it's not just because they're ready to pack. It's because they know me. And they're like, OK, it's.

You

less than a month away, where's Laura's packing list? we're waiting for it. And I'm like, okay, I'm getting it this week. it's coming. But I've set this standard now that they know I'm going to tell them everything to pack and it's going to be at least a month ahead of time. And that's the other thing too, is people don't tell you until a few days before your trip, what you need to bring. And that is not enough time for people to buy things. if Amazon can't get it here, or you have to physically God forbid, step foot in a store.

It's time.

and go buy something, it is not enough time.

Yeah, this actually comes into account with travel insurance too. We find sometimes that people wait so long to buy the travel insurance when we're like, the sooner you purchase travel insurance, the more it can cover. The sooner you purchase your packing items, the less stress you have later on. So it's almost preventive. Huh.

Yeah.

it is amazing to me because I have on my website, all my recommended travel products and it's not to sell stuff to people. It's cause people ask so frequently, what luggage do you recommend or, what to use for this or that or favorite travel shoes, stuff like that. I get asked so frequently. So I just have the links to everything on my website and you would not believe how many people show up on a trip with the exact products that I've recommended. I can literally see it.

when they pull stuff out of their bag, it's all the stuff I recommend because I get it. why would I shop around and read reviews when somebody who travels professionally has said I actually own this item and I've used it and I recommend it. So people, don't want to have to think about it. They're like, can somebody just tell me what to buy and I'll buy that's why people read reviews. I mean, it's the same process. anyway, let's...

Yeah, yeah, they trust you.

Yeah.

Dig in, yeah.

shift from packing to travel

So let's start with the obvious question that everyone's thinking. do I actually need travel insurance or is it just another way for companies to try and get my money?

I think it's very personal. some people feel it's a need, some people isn't. I personally believe that things like health insurance need.

Mm-hmm.

if you're gonna drive a car, you need to have auto insurance. Travel insurance, vast majority of travelers don't purchase travel insurance. Do we say it's a need? I don't know, some people in travel insurance will say this is a need. I think travel is a luxury, it's a privilege, so in a way, that's how I view having travel insurance, but what I do feel travel insurance can be is peace of mind.

I guess the way I succinctly answer it is I think it's very helpful to have travel insurance and

way more often than not, when you need it, it pays. It is designed to cover many obstacles, hazards, perils, trials and tribulations of travel, and a lot of time you won't need it. But someone will, and at some point you may. My family alone has had at least four

where we had to file a claim in the past almost 20 years. but we've probably 20 more trips where we paid for travel insurance and didn't need it. And so, think it could be very useful. I know it can be. I believe in travel insurance. I've had many experiences even with our health insurance, where they won't pay a claim. Many, many more experiences.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

health insurance and with other types of insurance where the insurance companies fighting back asking for way more than I thought they should then we ended up not having a claim paid and I'm thinking what are we doing? What does this pay for then? Right?

Right. Like, why do I have this? ⁓

And I will say, and this is going to sound biased, but it's honestly not. I personally have not been told or experienced by people who've traveled with me that, they submitted a claim and it didn't get approved. I'm not saying it's never happened, but most of the time when I'm aware of somebody making a claim for their travel insurance through you guys, usually that's covered. it's not a fake...

thing it's not something I've seen people have to struggle with just from an outside perspective because yes I'm involved but not really and I think I would hear back from people if they're like this company sucks usually it's just they make their claim they get their money and then they move on with their lives and that's what it should be for.

Yeah,

I also think it's important to know travel insurance isn't just one umbrella. I see a lot of travel insurance policies and plans, that are not adequate.

and they're almost something that you get last minute to have some, you think it's peace of mind, then you go to use it it doesn't work.

Mm-hmm.

have a relative who recently bought it through the cruise line and a medical claim. And that medical claim has taken five months now. It's still not done. for a lot of reasons, it just wasn't adequate coverage. And so I think that it is important to know what you're buying. Ask good questions. Look for things like primary coverage if you're traveling internationally for medical.

We focus at Wanderwell primarily on primary insurance, meaning that for a medical claim, it's medical primary. If you're traveling internationally, you file a claim with Wanderwell directly. You don't have to file a claim with your domestic insurance first.

you can file a claim directly with us. And then we focus on very modern benefit rich plans. We don't want to have you at very, very low limits. We'd rather see you not necessarily overinsured, but adequately insured, adequately covered.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and just to circle back to the question about needing travel insurance, my opinion is with my trips. not going to say you need travel insurance every time you hop on a plane, but I think, speaking specifically to Wander Well, you have multiple tiers of plans. I require my travelers to get the minimum level, which is just post-trip departure coverage, which the day you leave to the day you get back. So you're covered on the trip if anything happens.

I think that is highly, highly, highly important when you're traveling internationally because depending on the you don't know what the situation is going to be there. You don't know what their healthcare is like. You don't know how much it costs if you have to go to hospital, which I've had to do before. There's just so many things that can go wrong. Your flight's getting delayed or canceled, baggage damage or lost baggage, all these That's the stuff that I personally care

that people are covered on. And then I think the next level is do you care about having coverage should you need to cancel your trip, along the way? That to me is a personal choice. And that's people's level of risk that they're willing to take on putting money down on a trip that's not cancelable. But I firmly believe that everyone should have that minimum level just to cover anything that would happen on a trip because stuff does go wrong.

Yeah, yeah, and that's a great way to put it. I think encapsulating it is really important too when people ask We wanna be here for you and your guests, so when your guests have questions about what we're here for. Really, travel insurance plans boil down to two buckets of coverage.

And the way that you put it is really good for people to understand. A is there's ensuring the investment of your trip should you need to cancel for a covered reason or interrupt it for a covered reason and then covering you while you're on the trip. And you can get them both in one plan or you can get the covering you while you're on the trip only by itself. It's called post-departure only coverage generally. Some people call it travel medical, but there's usually a lot more involved.

Mm-hmm.

We believe at Wanderwall that you don't need a ton of options. know, some people say, I need cruise travel insurance. Really, you cruise travel insurance? what if we just build two So on a retail basis, you go to a website, you see two plans, maybe three max, And they're the one with both buckets, pre-departure and post-departure.

and then one with just the post-departure only. Why be confused between all of them? You can decide, do you want the minimum coverage or do I want to have more comprehensive coverage?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and when people ask me which one do I need I say well I require the minimum level And then I say this is a personal choice, but I would ask myself am I willing to Forfeit the cost of my trip if something were to happen and I wouldn't be able to go am I comfortable with the fact that I might be out $3,000 am I willing to take that risk if so, then maybe you don't need it but especially if for people who say I have a

a sick family member or I have somebody that might need a surgery or anticipating there might be something that could possibly come up. I'm then I would absolutely get a higher level of coverage to have that peace of mind to know that your trip is potentially should something go wrong that's covered.

But that's a personal choice. That's why I don't obviously require that for everybody, but I do just require the minimum level because I've had personally had so many things go wrong. So I get this question a lot from people who are traveling with me. They'll say I don't need travel insurance because I already have travel insurance through my credit card or I'm already covered on XYZ through my credit card. As a person who's a points and miles enthusiast, I understand how that works. However,

I'm going to ask you this, what's the difference between travel insurance and the coverage that someone might be getting through a credit card?

That's a good question. And lot of are different from each other. So I'm gonna make general statements here. First of all, the most important thing is if you're gonna make a claim that you're already covered, make sure you know what you're covered for on your credit card. It may be sufficient for your needs Generally, what...

Yep. Mm-hmm.

I find in credit card coverage is that it could be comprehensive enough for covering the investment of your trip. But pay attention to the covered reasons for cancellation.

You should be able to, your profile with your credit card, be able to see what's covered in the insurance plan. And does it only work when you've used that credit card to purchase the trip? What if you use that credit card to purchase the trip with Laura Erickson, but you didn't use it for your non-refundable airfare? You know, what happens in those cases? They can.

they often get you on, in my opinion. Especially if you're using your points.

If you're using your points.

if you're using your points, that could be a totally different story. And then pay attention to the post-departure coverage because that may be quite limited as well. So credit card coverage can be sufficient and it also may not be. You want to make that you have the proper expectations of what's covered and to what limitations and exclusions.

Mm-hmm.

Many people who actually contact us ask questions about pre-existing conditions and then share with us that they checked with their credit card and it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions. then we share what the limitations are and the time sensitive eligibility requirements for purchasing one of our plans and having pre-existing conditions be covered.

or sometimes they want something like cancellation for any reason if they're in a state that has that eligibility and if they're within the timeframe. So generally with a retail travel insurance plan and overall trip protection coverage, you can find

more comprehensive benefits than you would in a credit card. But also it depends on the credit card. Some people claim that their credit card basically just covers everything. I can't speak for the credit card companies.

Right.

And just recently I had someone they didn't upload their proof of insurance. I followed up and she's like, I don't need it. I have it through my credit card company. And I said, do you want to just send me your policy and then I'll take a quick look at it. And I was like, OK, this is comparable. mean, she had medical. She had like basically post-trip departure coverage. So was like, yeah, this is sufficient. However, that's rare. from my experience.

it's usually missing pieces of that and often it's missing the medical piece. A lot of times I see that it has, car insurance coverage, has baggage delay, trip delay, stuff like that, but there's not a lot for covering you if you were to be injured or worse on a trip.

Yeah.

Yeah, and you're in a unique position too where you're checking on all this stuff. I'm not sure if you have some sort

a booklet or something that you have online where you have everybody's information so you can advocate for them if they are in the hospital. Oh, here's your travel insurance information. Okay, we can call your 24-7 assistance company.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I do ask everyone to just upload a copy of their policy so that if and when we would need to use it I would at least know that they're insured and that they have it through somebody. I would say 50 to 75 percent of my travelers maybe more end up purchasing through Wanderwell but once in a while I get somebody who has their own thing and that's fine. I just asked to have a copy so that if they were

severely injured or they weren't able to access at least I would kind of know what's going on. So if we're talking purely about medical insurance, health insurance, why does someone need travel insurance if they already have health insurance, especially when we're talking about traveling internationally? I think there's maybe this assumption that medical care is cheaper in other countries. So I think some people think I'll just risk it might be really inexpensive if I need to just pay for health care in another country.

I don't think that's always the case.

Yeah, it could depend on the country. first, a glaring difference is does your domestic health insurance plan have 24-7 emergency assistance that can arrange emergency medical evacuation internationally? So this is sometimes what people refer to as a non-insurance service of your travel insurance plan.

Probably not.

travel insurance plan can come with insurance benefits and non-insurance services. One of them is 24-7 assistance. And if you end up in a country or in an area where let's say you go to a hospital and you want to have a medical director elsewhere, communicate with the medical director or the provider at the clinic or facility you're

That's a real draw and a positive benefit of travel insurance plans. And they can also arrange for getting you to the nearest adequate facility if you're not at an adequate facility. So if you have a travel insurance and someone like for that guest who has travel insurance and is speaking with 24-7 assistance and saying, we have a medical director at 24-7 assistance company.

talking with the provider here saying, how is the traveler doing? they need this. Okay, they ask the right questions and say, okay, you're in rural Mexico, we need to get you to Mexico City. Okay, they can make those arrangements. Those have cost to it too. And so even the cost that you have at a facility, if you use the 24-7 assistance right, it's actually working together with the insurance so

it can oftentimes pay directly on your behalf and then it gets worked out. We've had many claims happen where the traveler never had to present any more information in a claim because it was paid directly or there was a guarantee of payment

from the insurance company via the 24-7 assistance company to the facility where you're being treated. The other thing is, if you're in a tourist heavy spot, we've seen many times where Americans get charged a lot more.

So you may be in international spot that has lower costs for healthcare, at least you think there are lower costs, but it ends up lot more, tens of thousands of dollars. And if someone has that right away to pay on a credit card, then maybe you do, but that's a very difficult amount to pay and sometimes your credit card won't authorize a charge of that much.

Mm-hmm.

What are some of the most common claims you see at Wonderwall?

Trip cancellation is the most common.

say followed by trip delay cancellation meaning you have not yet departed something happens to force you to cancel the trip I'm not a claims examiner and you can't make any judgment on a claim especially

claim that hasn't been submitted, but to set proper expectations, it's very transparent. So when you purchase a policy, you can see the policy document. People will call fine print, and get that. I often call that fine print too. But especially because you're reading it on a computer, you can search for the trip cancellation section and see your state, depending on where you live, on the policy, may have anywhere from, let's say, nine categories of covered reasons to 30 categories of covered reasons for trip cancellation.

The most common that we see is someone gets ill or accidentally injured or a family member gets ill or accidentally injured or dies. And that prevents that person from going on the trip. Trip delay. Wow.

Mm-hmm.

That happens a lot. We tend to see it happen more often in the winter time. So in North America winter time, we'll see people who are going to sunnier climbs and there may be a weather pattern that delays their departure or their arrival in their destination or maybe even to come back home.

And so a trip delay benefit can help to reimburse you for accommodations and lodging and possibly some transfers to help with that inconvenience.

Mm-hmm.

And can you explain cancel for any reason coverage? I know it's fairly self-explanatory, but one of the things that I always tell people when they book a trip with me, immediately they get an email saying, please at least look at your travel insurance options. You don't have to purchase today if you don't want to, but I want to make sure that you understand you're at some point leaving your your ability to purchase cancel for any reason coverage. I just want them to read through that. And then if they're like, yeah, that doesn't apply to me. I don't want it. They can.

can get travel insurance later. But can you explain why somebody would want that and what the difference is?

Yeah, and I'll sort of back my way into it. The trip cancellation benefit is designed to reimburse you for the non-refundable trip costs that you lose.

if you have to cancel the trip due to a covered reason. So a minute ago we talked about the maybe somewhere nine to 30 covered reasons. It really depends on the plane.

covered reasons or what we call perils that cause you to cancel the trip. And if you present the due diligence, the information and the documents to show A, why it was canceled and that it was for the covered reason and the receipts and the proof of purchase and cancellation.

and that you did not get, the amount that you lost, then you could be reimbursed up to 100 % of what you lost, as long as it's within the covered trip cost that you purchased. up to 100%. Not less, but up to 100%. You may...

Mm-hmm.

receive less for some reasons we had one somewhat recently that our support team brought to me because we were getting a complaint from a customer who said, no, no, no, I lost $2,000 and look, here's all the proof. And they showed the proof. And so we were trying to advocate for them and help set proper expectations with the claims team too.

And even the claims examiner said, we can see all this, but you only bought insurance for $1,000 trip cost. And then ultimately they said, oh, I forgot to add my extra thousand when I paid that amount. But that claim was paid at 100 % of I think it was around 1,000, give or take. trip cancellation benefit is generally designed to reimburse you up to 100 % of what you lost.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Not the value of the trip.

because it's under the covered

amount, if you cancel for a covered reason. Now, cancellation for any reason is generally an optional upgrade it's designed to reimburse you for a lower amount if you cancel for a reason that's not listed as covered. So you just don't feel let going, right?

That happens a lot. Where people just say, I just don't feel like going. I'm having a stressful time in my life. I don't feel like going. Right?

Does that

happen a lot because they have that coverage or just in general?

I mean, I can say I have lots of people come up with reasons why they don't want to come and it's usually not a covered reason. But they actually try to submit a claim to you when they don't have cancel for any reason coverage.

Yeah.

yeah,

and we'll help them submit a claim, but we want to set proper expectations.

Yeah, but

they say I just don't want to go.

Yeah, I'd say the most common reason that people say is their child care fell through

And so one of the things that we ask people to do also is say, well, you can submit a claim. Also, make sure you ask your travel planner if you are still within the timeframe to get a credit.

to postpone your trip to a later date, and we can help you to move your travel insurance to that trip. So let's go back to the cancellation for any reason. It's really important to know that no matter who you're purchasing this through, the optional cancellation for any reason, or what people will often refer to as CFAR as an acronym, as eligibility requirements, and check with the provider that you're working with and the plan.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

So the main eligibility requirements that you'll see very commonly, are time sensitive, because you need to purchase within the time sensitive period from when you made your initial trip payment of any kind.

Right.

it's like getting the insurance after you realize you need it versus getting it preventatively, proactively, essentially.

Sort of. I mean, you could still not have a reason to cancel, but still want cancellation for any reason, right? So make sure you check with the time sensitive eligibility, not only so you can purchase it, because of course, anyone can put in an initial trip payment date whenever they want. But when you want to file a claim, you're going to have to show proof of when you actually made that initial trip payment. So you want to tell the truth and then make sure that you're purchasing within the time sensitive period.

Mm-hmm.

And then also, it's very common that in order to file a claim and have an approved claim for cancellation for any reason, another eligibility requirement is that you cancel the trip. Not just let the insurance company know, you need to cancel the trip two days or more prior to

your planned departure. So if you're planning on departing on the 24th, cancel the trip by the 22nd. And you have to show proof of that. So it's not like you wake up the morning before and go, I don't feel like going, it's gotta be two days Those are two general time sensitive eligibility requirements for activating the CFAR cancellation for any reason.

The last thing I'll say is cancellation for any reason is generally not up to 100 % reimbursement. So if you have an eligible claim and it is approved on a cancellation for any reason, it's going to be for a lower percentage of your loss. Generally, it's somewhere between 50 and 75%.

have you seen an increase in people trying to cancel this year in particular because things that are happening politically around the world? And I suppose you probably get this all the time because stuff is always happening. This is obviously just year where people are probably paying more attention. But do you get a lot of people saying, I just don't want to go because I'm not comfortable traveling?

Mm-hmm.

No, what we've seen more of this year, and especially the past few months, is people canceling their trip because they lost their job. I'm not saying that that's an overwhelming amount it's been a noticeable uptick.

Mmm.

Interesting. I know last

And depending on

the plan and the state you live in, that could be a covered reason. have to check your plan. Sometimes your plan actually has loss of employment as a covered reason, will say the loss of employment if you've been consistently working at that job for a certain time frame. Some plans and states say one year, some say two, some say three.

Mm-hmm. Hmm.

And also, have to see if you lost it for a fault of your own.

I can say like on my end, I've seen a significant of claims for some of the reasons you've spoken to, like somebody has their spouse needed a surgery because they were sick or I had the Air India.

I call it the shit-tuation where somebody stuffed blankets down the toilet on that Air India flight in March that my group happened to be on and for people who don't know this is such bad luck but three people from my trip were on that flight and they got six hours into the air and had to turn back around because somebody shoved blankets down the toilet blocked up the septic system and they had to fly everybody back to Chicago

So then all those people had to find new flights and two of the people didn't rebook their flight instantly. And so of course all these other people got ahead of them to rebook their flights so they couldn't get to India for like three days. So for some people that might not be that big of a deal to get rebooked and get to go three days later. In the case of a group trip where it starts on day one and it ends on day 10.

that.

they were gonna miss three days of their trip by the time they got there. So long story short, they didn't end up going. And luckily they had purchased travel don't even know what ended up happening to them, but I assume that they submitted a claim and hopefully you guys helped them out. But thank God they had insurance in my position people look at me and say, well, can I have my money back? I don't have your money either. Your money went to partner in India or

your money is in the hands of my partner in Morocco or Cuba or whoever I'm working with. I've already given them the money for your trip. So it's not like I'm just holding on to it. It's that they've already been paid for the trip and it doesn't really matter whether you go or not. Like the money's in their hands and they shouldn't be out the money either because of these things happening. So I try to explain to people sometimes this trickle down effect of this isn't just about me. This is also about people in other countries and this is their business, too. so

Mm.

I also look at travel insurance for that you're not only protecting yourself, you're also protecting everyone else involved.

Yeah, piggyback on that. first of all, that's a shitty situation, but...

I saw a picture. One of the girls

befriended the pilot and he sent her a photo of the blanket and you do not want to see it.

Yeah, no thank you. That's

on the Laura Erickson Group Trips website.

⁓ yeah.

Well, the way you see that kind of circular economy and how there's a lot of collaboration in what you do, that's the way I see insurance in general, much like my travel insurance. Earlier I had said something to the effect of, I bought insurance this many times, I may not have needed it, but someone else did.

I believe that insurance is a true sharing economy because when we all put in, you may not need it, but it's lifting the tide for others to be able to use it. And your insurance rate actually is calculated based on that probability.

Mm-hmm.

We work really closely with the underwriters because obviously we're all in this together. We want to see you are well covered for the premium that you're paying, that we can stay in business and make some profit and that the insurance company can also and that all of.

insurance services that we partner with and TPAs, it's all part of one thing. But it doesn't need to be the insurance company or Wanderwell needs to make these exorbitant profits and then keep raising the rates all the time. We want to be able to kind of push and pull and we recognize that it is a sharing economy and overall if things work out where everyone's

doing well and we beat all the targets and we could still even make the benefits better and not raise rates at all. Great. What if we could make the benefits better and decrease rates because everyone's working together, to keep it all afloat and not necessarily make it unattainable in the future. ⁓ In short, I just believe it's a sharing economy and we can all work together to make it better and make it more accessible.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I'm gonna go back to your question about saving the trip few there are a few instances that really stick out one of which was someone who had to be rushed to the was in the hospital for many because the them to pay in full and it was an exorbitant amount

and they wouldn't release him for the hospital. unless they paid. So then the next day it was like an additional 5,000. You know, and they're like, but I couldn't pay yesterday. How are you gonna charge me more? And that was a claim where even between the insurance carrier at Wanderwell the 24-7 Assistance Company was able to all work together to make sure that this person was released from the hospital, went home, and also in the end was reimbursed 100%.

my gosh.

And it was tens of thousands of dollars. and that was an emotional moment for all of us. we were not necessarily on the ground, but you know, there working through the through it with the family. And that person was OK when they got home and was able to be treated in a way didn't say their trip because they couldn't stay on their trip. But ⁓ it did save them from a lot of money.

Right.

Another one that comes to my mind because even though everyone physically was okay and that's the most important thing, it was a real traumatic experience for this couple that wanted to go work somewhere for a month.

They had rented vacation rental for a month and on like day three, came back after going to dinner and all their stuff was just disheveled and all over the place. Their passports were taken, their computers were taken. the claims team worked together really well.

to help them through that situation. And they were able to get a rush on their passports. They were able to file claims on some of their items to make sure that they were reimbursed or they were able to buy other items while they were there. especially clothes. And they went through a horrible situation, but afterwards, and when they got home,

they felt like it was made a little bit easier by their experience with travel insurance.

Yeah, can't hearing about this fun, but at least sometimes you know you're helping, or most of time you're probably helping. I know, ⁓

Yeah, you know what's really

helpful too is just answering someone's question. we're getting back to people really, really fast. Even to say to them, okay, we see everything, we're really sorry you're going through this. It's always our number one thing on our SOP every single day is lead with compassion. I'm really sorry to hear that you're going through this. This must be really difficult for you. Okay, here's what I can answer for you right now. Please get me this and this and this and then

Yeah.

through submitting a claim. And generally if you're pre-trip or post-trip, it may feel like an emergency to you and we totally get that, we know that. And we want to help you by gonna get back to you, let's work on this and this and this, and let's schedule a phone call. Because when you're on the trip, yes, there can be an emergency and we have the 24-7 assistance.

Mm-hmm.

trip and post-trip gonna encourage all of us to be like okay let's take a breath and here's how we can start helping you let's do this and this and then when you get us this then we'll take the next steps.

What is the weirdest or most unusual claim you've ever seen?

You

You know what? What's really weird is that the first person ever asking this question.

You

⁓ I heard about one where their dog had babies.

Which also, as a person, understand, my goodness, you wanna care for these dogs. But that wasn't a covered reason. I just wanted to say it wasn't. Yeah, I mean, there are some plans where you can add it, but I don't know about the dog having babies. Yeah. I mean, I don't think this person submitted a claim.

Yeah.

Yes, puppies. Maybe it should be.

I'd be like, prove it.

but they slept in and missed their trip, like missed their flight. So like they couldn't even claim that it was a delay by the airline or something like that.

Yeah.

So if you miss your flight, I mean, I've done that once in my life. My alarm didn't go off and I had a super early morning flight to New York and I ended up getting a flight. But yeah, you're on your own. If it's your fault, you're generally on your own. Sometimes the airline will help you, sometimes they won't.

Yeah, me too.

Yeah, and anytime I've missed a flight because of my own delay, which has definitely happened, the airline was really good about it.

Earlier you asked about the most common claims that we do see though, trip cancellation and the trip delay. The trip delay sometimes can be a little bit avoidable. And I understand that people really stack together their trip plans. Laura's trip leaves at noon local time from Marrakesh on Tuesday. So I'm going

schedule my flight to arrive at 10 a.m. the same day and of course when I maximize your PTO trip And so I'm not gonna tell anybody that they have to plan their trip so and so I'll tell you what I do I'll experience it if I need to be somewhere on

Tuesday at noon. I'm trying my best to be there Monday at noon.

Mm-hmm.

Again, I understand that people don't all have that luxury, but at least to get there when you're outbound to your destination, if you can afford financially and in time to get there a day early, settle in, be ready,

Even when people do have a trip delay, maybe their trip delay was only three hours, which might not even be enough of a delay trigger to trigger a trip delay claim. But you're not stressed because you are still making the rest of your trip on time. That's tough. Another thing is when we get baggage claims,

some people would say, my bag that had an air tag on it or a tracking device, I got that one, because we were able to locate it. So I make it a common practice on all my bags, especially when we check them in, they have an air tag or a tracking device.

Mm-hmm.

same.

Yeah, because I feel like lot of airlines, especially US airlines are pretty good now about tracking your bags immediately and you can follow them. But that is not the case for all the international airlines. And sometimes I have literally no idea if my bags are going to show up, especially if things get re-routed or you end up having a really short layover.

you can't always track those things and they don't have the technology always to track it the way you might see on United or American or Delta.

yeah, is a crazy claim. It was showing the tale of two people within a family. So the bags for half the family had air tags, bags for half the family did not. And in Heathrow, the bags that had the air tag were tracked and they were able to locate the bag with the help of the airline.

Mm-hmm.

Those

bags? The other bags didn't show up for three weeks.

Three weeks. They were on like a three and a half week trip.

Yeah, and I've seen that with people where almost their whole trip, they don't have their luggage. I feel a little hypocritical at this point, because I used to be very good about carry on only, it's not as possible for me anymore with long trips. But I tell people not here to judge if you like to check a bag, that's fine. Just know that there's a risk with checking a bag, especially if you have multiple layovers, every time you're laid over somewhere.

Yeah.

likelihood increases that your bag could get lost or at least delayed and then I tell people if you are going to check a bag at least pack your bag like it's going to be delayed for a few days and you know you want to have a few things on you so pack your medications especially prescriptions pack an extra set of clothing pack your toiletries I have certain things that are always on me even if I check a bag because I plan

to lose my luggage. if you plan to lose your luggage, it's not quite as horrible when it happens. And usually people do get their luggage back, but nobody wants to get their luggage back 10 days later or three weeks into their trip. that's kind of missing the point, but it happens.

Yeah, that's good advice. you do this so often and you have the wisdom to share. You know how Anthony Bourdain and he might have borrowed this from someone, but he said something like, more I travel...

unless I know.

the less I know. I actually, I have this on my phone that the more I travel, the less I know. Or ⁓ the more I learn, the less I know. Yeah. And that to me a very actual introspective moment.

Something like that,

Yeah, yeah.

that you can share with others too. You're learning it about the outside world, but then also learning it about yourself, which is one of the most beautiful things I that travel can bring always causes us to go inside, and you are taking these things and learning and going inside, and then being able to share that wisdom with all of your guests. Even when it's something like that, like your luggage.

Mm-hmm.

and I think, well, yeah, and

I think people have this mentality, myself included, sometimes of it's not gonna happen to me, or what are the odds it's gonna happen to me? think we just kind of assume these things won't happen, but one, I've traveled a lot, so I've had a lot of things happen to myself, but multiply that by all the people I've traveled with, I've kind of seen it all. I've seen it happen, and I see how frequently it happens, and it's not just...

when I'm traveling on my group trips, it's when I'm at a conference and the presenter doesn't have their luggage That stuff does happen. I think there's trends with how frequently certain things are happening at different times, know, like during COVID certain things were happening and right now it's, you know, don't fly through Newark because there's not enough air traffic control. you hear and see these things quite a bit. And so even though it doesn't happen to me, I hear about it happening to other people and

there's a reason we tell people not to do these things. It's because it can actually happen and the one time you don't do it is when it's going to happen to you and you're not going to be prepared. so unrelated, but I always tell people one of the things I see people do all the time that I think is a big no-no is carrying their passport around with them. I think people have this...

feeling of like, if it's on me, then it's safe. If it's on my person, it's safe. what if somebody broke into my hotel room or my Airbnb and they stole my passport? could that happen? Sure. Is it more likely to happen that you set your bag down or somebody pickpockets you there's a million things that could happen while you're out and about with your passport.

I just constantly see people I've got my passport on me. And I feel like that's like when people used to have fanny packs that we put under our clothes, that's for when you're, that's for when you're traveling and you have to have your passport on you. you're getting from point A to B and required to have a passport.

Mm-hmm. belt.

to me, once you are where you need to be, you should be putting your passport in a safe first and foremost. If you don't have a safe, I would still argue it's safer in your luggage than it is on your person, walking around, especially in places that are prone to pickpocketing and things like that. I tell my groups this constantly and some people argue with me about it. They're like, well, I'm not doing it. And I'm like, that's fine. I'm just saying this is my recommendation. So last year in Mexico City, I had a girl get her...

her phone, her wallet, and her passport all stolen in one swipe in ⁓ Walmart, I think. By the time she realized it was gone, it was all gone. And it was such a nightmare for her to get that all back. Well, she didn't get any of it back, but to get it fixed where she could actually leave the country. And my friend had the same thing with her dad in Mexico, and it took him a month, I think, to get home because he needed a new passport. So these things can happen.

Mm-hmm.

And I tell people these things for a reason, not because I think it's going to happen, but because it can happen. And sometimes you have to kind of calculate the level of risk you're willing to take if something were to go wrong. But I personally would be much more likely to lose my purse or leave it open, which I do all the time, than have somebody break into wherever I'm staying and rifle through my stuff and see my passport and be like, ooh, American passport, jackpot. It's probably not the passport we want right now anyway.

Hmm.

Get your dual passports. Yeah, I think That's really good advice. a lot of things can happen without us knowing it. really unfortunate your client that was in City.

Pickpocket Central.

hundreds of people around like this. And so this is one thing I would say, if I've got my backpack, and I really like to urban backpacking, know, if I'm standing in one place, let's say in a crowded area like that, I'm always swaying, always. Because that means if someone's gonna try and do something, they've gotta be moving with me. I was on the Rambla, and I didn't have a backpack on me at that time, but I watched

one person go put a trash bag under their backpack from behind and I saw another person take a knife and everything fell into the backpack and they left and they were unseen, and nobody went chase after me. I was across the way from them. You can see it. And then they turn around and try to run after them and those people are just gone. And it's really, they're professionals.

knife.

I mean, these people are good, they're professionals.

And I'll say it's usually happening in the places that people are less afraid to travel to. It's the places that people don't have their guard up because they're like, I'm just in Spain. I'm just in Barcelona or I'm just in Italy or whatever. I'm in Rome. These are the places where I would say pickpocketing and stuff like that is the most prominent. And I always tell people the places I travel to is where people are scared to go. But I would argue there's a lot more issues in some of these places like.

Barcelona, Rome, Paris, where that petty crime and the tourist crime and just preying on tourists for different things. It's a lot more prominent and people aren't thinking of it because they just assume I'm in a more of a Westernized society I'll be fine and I don't think that's necessarily true. But yeah, these people are trained. Like this is what they do all day long. They scam people. They pickpocket. they're very good at it. And so most of the time you're not going to know what happens until it's too late.

thing.

That's interesting.

Wow, yeah, you have a lot more perspective on that. You know, there's something else I always share a little bit of wisdom on traveling is even if you're traveling to the next big city over, and especially in your own city, because you need to travel in your own city, know where you are.

Yes.

So take a few minutes, even if you're not spatially oriented with a map, take a few minutes to read a map and notice a couple things. Number one is where is a police station? Number two is where is a supermarket? And number three is places where people hang out, like where's a bar? Not because you're gonna go to all those places, but I have been approached many times while I'm traveling on my own.

Mm-hmm.

and I'm walking down the street, and even when I'm here in my home city, by people who come up to me and I know they were looking for trouble, and they were asking me hey, do know where I can find the, they're testing me to know if I know my way around. Am I a visitor, am I a local? And I'm always a little bit like, the two times that happened to me, was like, I think you know where they are because you live here also.

Mm-hmm.

You

So I'm almost like

pretending that I live there, like, so you know that there's a supermarket one block that way and one block that way, right? Okay, well, you can go to it. It might not be open right now, but you can go find it. And once they know that you're know your way around, it's like a preventive measure you can take. And so maybe I'm a little more...

Mm-hmm.

Hehe.

Erotic about it, but I always when I get somewhere even before I get there. I like to know okay. Here's where I am Okay, good. I can I can at least fake like I live here

Right. So one thing I do want to talk about a little bit is the mission and values of Wanderwell, because I personally can say this is why I chose Wanderwell as my travel insurance partner. So Wanderwell is a certified B Corp. Can you explain what that means for people who don't know and and why that certification was important to you? Because from what I know, that is not easy to get.

So great question. Yeah, we're proud to be a certified B Corp. We have been since 2017. It is a evolving set of standards. So B Lab, which is the nonprofit that runs it's a B Corp. assessment. That assessment is a set of standards that is designed to always be evolving. So about every two or three, four years,

It evolves to current business best practices and in some ways becomes more strict or more appropriate. And really what we use it for is a framework to be accountable to always be evolving ourselves.

and using best practices to be more efficient and effective, to know what it means to provide better benefits and pay according to living wage for our employees, to our contractors, to have screening practices to make sure that the third parties we're using, the vendors, are also employing.

best practices not only for people, but also for our planet, for our local communities, in our case, meaning you and your company and mine, for the destinations that our travelers are going to, our customers. So every three years, we go through the assessment again.

And hopefully we are still certified. We've already gone through that three times and we've been certified the whole time.

It is a dynamic framework that can be followed whether you become a certified B Corp or not. I think the tough part of it is people will say, I want my company to be a B Corp, but we just don't quite get to that point. We don't quite get to that mark. But my feeling is the point is don't make making the mark a goal, make taking the assessment the goal.

Mm-hmm.

and then

use that assessment to always be improving. If at some point you become a certified B Corp, great. But it's also not necessary. There are plenty of other things you can do to hold yourself accountable, maybe filing as a public benefit corporation, registering as a benefits corp, and then not only having that entity or that certification, but also

being engaged with the organizations that are also part of that, like other certified B Corps, other companies that are trying to be B Corps.

I believe in it especially because of that framework and I want to always be using that framework to evolve as a company. And also you just find really good companies to work with who are values aligned. But it's not necessary. It's kind of like when a farmer and a farm goes for certified organic. But this is a certification for the business side of it.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right. And that's a good segue the organizations that Wonderwell is part of.

I think from my perspective, you guys are involved in a lot of things that most insurance companies probably wouldn't take the time to be involved in or care about. again, this is why I partner with Manderwell. And Erin, you are actually the inspiration for me to join 1 % for the planet. And people hear me talking about it all the time. But you're a 1 % for the planet member. Tourism cares. You're in the Adventure Travel Trade Association. All of those things cost time and money to be a part of in case people don't know that.

Transpemitional Travel Council.

Transmrational Travel Council, which I'm also a member of, in case people don't know. Memberships cost money and to be involved takes time and to attend things takes time and money. So why does a travel insurance company care about being part of these communities? And more importantly, why should a customer care that you're part of them?

Well, really I could just say that this is where our values are. We believe that everywhere you go, everything you do when you're on your trips, everything you eat, has an impact on your destination. Also has an impact on the company you travel with. an impact on the company you choose to purchase travel insurance with.

And we believe that we have a responsibility as a business to be engaging and making a positive impact. There's ways that we can hold ourselves accountable, like being a B Corp. Then there's also ways to be engaging, and I really appreciate, especially, 1 % for the planet and the Planet Impact Fund.

because they're taking steps, there you go, I have the same one but it's not with me today. I went for the glass jar today. We can still cheers. We're using, it's re-usables. Plastic Free July. So, 1 % of the planet has thousands of environmental partners that are non-profits that are vetted and verified to making a positive impact. And...

it. We the planet cups. There you go.

every year to donate at least 1 % of our revenue environmental partners from 1 % of the planet and that includes the Planet Impact Fund. And that also makes the impact measurable.

And there's a number of ways. I Transformational Childhood Council, really big fan of their vision and actually educating leaders like you who are taking people on trips. So you can curate the trip not to force We already know transformation is gonna be inherent when you travel. But having the space and the prompts.

Mm-hmm.

to allow the transformation to be recognized. I really like that. the Adventure Travel Trade Association, I just feel like they're so well organized, and it's a really good way for organizations and companies to actually integrate, to meet with each other.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Something about Tourism Cares that I really appreciate is that their conferences have been the most impactful to we go to a Tourism Cares conference, they...

put so much energy and effort into curating that conference towards benefiting the local economy and introducing us to local nonprofits and farms and history.

it really gave me a new perspective. And they're one of the organizations that I'm reminded when I'm with them that wherever I go, I am a visitor. Yeah, I can pretend like I live there for a little bit, but I am a visitor. And it puts me in a frame of mind where I know I have a responsibility to the place and the people that I'm visiting to really...

Mm-hmm.

Understand their perspective, ask questions, and not be so judgmental or

Mm-hmm. Yeah,

found so much value in ATTA. I've gone on several of their trips and the networking opportunities are amazing. 1 What I love about 1 % for the planet aside from just the mission is that the...

the businesses that are part of it are so diverse. I'm used to kind of going to these things and it's all travel. I'm meeting all these people and travel and that's great, that's my industry. But One Percent of the Planet, you're meeting an insurance provider, you're meeting a luggage company, you're meeting a sunscreen company, you're meeting...

all these different people from all over the world who have this common mission and goal and belief system that are in completely different industries from your own. And it's amazing to me how often now I see the little 1 % logo on something, once you kind of are aware of it, it's something that stands out to me when I see it. That and like the Bequart, but I see those little logos on products and things like that. And it's kind of like this little unspoken society. okay, we're all we're all 1 % members, I'm more

likely to purchase something from somebody if I see that they're 1 for the planet number because it shows me values are aligned and that as a business they are willing to give back.

Yeah, I mean it's our algorithm, right? It's our like the algorithm that our brains work in. We're on the lookout in a way for that logo and we see them. I see those two all the time and they just kind of stick out to me and I notice that I'm looking for them but even when I don't think I'm looking for them, I'm noticing them. I even went into a supermarket, I think this was like two years ago, and they had an entire end cap that was a 1 % for the planet end cap. It was the...

That's awesome. Like they're all products.

Yeah, but it was the supermarket that did it. It wasn't 1 % for the planet. They're like, yeah, we just made this. So even though that product can be seen in another aisle, this whole end cap was all different types of products and they were all together. this is the 1 % for the planet, we're gonna do it this month. I know, was great. I thought, we even have a B Corp supermarket here in Oregon, new seasons, and they've had B Corp end caps.

Right.

That's awesome. That's awesome.

That's.

That's so cool. And I just, encourage people if they don't know anything about this to educate themselves because you're supporting companies that give a shit. I'm not saying other companies don't, but this is a way of knowing that these are companies that care about the environment. care about sustainability. They care about conservation. they give a shit about our planet and what's going to happen to it. And if people are more interested in that, I highly recommend Yvonne Chouinard's Let My People Go Surfing.

It's such a good book. even if you're not an entrepreneur, I think it's a great book. even if you like Patagonia, I just find it a really fascinating story. And I think he has another, The Responsible Company? I of course, listen to them on podcasts, but I did buy the book. That's the thing I do too, by the way, full circle here. I listened to it on a podcast, but I purchased the book. And then, so like, have the book. Yeah, I buy it twice. If I like it, I buy it twice. I may never open the book, but I have it.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, you're supporting in multiple ways. Yeah.

And I can say I've technically read it, So.

That's a key piece

of reading or listening, let me people go surfing. I actually think it really holds up too. many years later.

Yeah, like,

I think it's fascinating. Like I said, you don't have to be an entrepreneur to care about that book. ⁓ I just think even just the history and the story of Patagonia is fascinating. It's fascinating as a leadership book. It's fascinating as an entrepreneurship book. Somebody who cares about the planet. I don't know, even if you just like Patagonia's clothes, I just think it's such a really, really, really good read. And it's not hard to read, it's pretty quick.

It's yeah, it's really organized and you can read it in doses. actually there's a bumper sticker I saw this morning and I see this once in a while and it always reminds me of this book and it just says, humankind, be both. That's I think the spirit of.

someone like Yvon Chouinard, but also community and spirit that he and his people of Patagonia built and created.

Share.

we could talk about this all day, but I'm gonna try to wrap up here. So, where can people find more info about Wanderwell? Is there anything you want to share or promote today?

Yeah.

we're here, you know, to do the insurance work for you and for your guests. So even though you may be recommending insurance or require it in some way, you don't need to be. We can do that work for you so you don't have to to advise people and we're licensed to do that.

And it's really easy, I think it's on your website. You can go to gowanderwell.com slash affiliates slash Laura dash Erickson. That's a lot. So you can actually go to the link. Yeah.

I'll link that. I know. I'll link it in the show

notes because nobody will spell my name right anyway. Let's be real.

No.

You can also tell us that you heard about us through Laura Erickson, so if you go to gowanderwell.com. But we highly encourage you to go to your website and to the show notes and use that link.

And something I've seen like a little bit of an increase in is people purchasing travel insurance through me that don't travel with me. So people who are on my newsletter or who listen to podcast or follow me, it kind of goes back to that whole like people don't want to have to shop around. They want to just kind of go with what's recommended. They're like, just tell me what to do. And I found that a lot of people are purchasing travel insurance through me slash you.

Yeah.

without the intention of traveling with me, they're just going on their own trip. Or it's past travelers who've gone on my group trips and now they're going on their own trip and they're still purchasing that travel insurance through me and they're coming back and doing it repeatedly on their own trips. So you don't need to travel with me to purchase travel insurance through me and or Wanderwell just to kind of make that clear to people. And it's a super quick process. I have purchased my own travel insurance through Wanderwell multiple times and it takes like five minutes. It's very painless.

That's great. That happens.

⁓ I'm grateful all the time for our partnership and thank you for recommending Wonderwell.

This is no pressure obligation for people to go through us, but we want to be here to set proper expectations and guide you through the process of purchasing, which is really easy actually, and or filing a claim, which isn't easy. And we have retail plans and we also do custom plans. if you run company if you're a trip planner, a planner of travel, as the insurance industry says.

We're happy to talk with you about that too. We have a really robust affiliate partner program. We work with a lot of live event vacations, so concerts and sports, and you purchase a big package of that. And we can create custom coverage for that as well. But we're always growing, we're growing most through partnerships like WanderWell and Laura Erickson. And I'm grateful every day. Thank you so much, and I appreciate you for...

Mm-hmm.

everything you're doing and also for greeting me and welcoming me to be part of this conversation. on the podcast.

thanks to you too, Erin. Thank

you. Okay, one more question for you Erin. So as someone who deals with this daily, how do you maintain a sense of adventure and optimism about travel when you kind of live in this world where you know things can go wrong?

Yeah.

my wife says this even more than I do having something to look forward to is very motivational we were at a concert and she

said something about it, you know, we're planning this trip and it's so neat to have something to look forward to. And that is a sense of adventure in itself. We're not gonna plan the entire trip, it's just like, we buy the tickets and we're gonna figure it out. And so leading up to it is a big part of the adventure and then actually taking the adventure.

And it could be somewhere we've been a hundred times, or it could be somewhere that's brand new. At least we're always open to the new experience and we have something to look forward to. And then while we're on it, I think it gives us a better opportunity to be open to whatever happens.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I think there's actually statistical, there's studies on this that shows that the anticipation of a trip is actually just as rewarding as the trip itself. So the more time you give yourself, the further you book your trip, the more time you have to

be excited about it, is honestly better, because it is so rewarding to anticipate and wait for that trip. If you book it last minute, although that's kind of fun too, being spontaneous, you don't get that waiting for the trip. So, and that's why you buy travel insurance, right? Full circle.

Yeah.

⁓ Yeah, And,

yeah, I agree. I think you and I see eye to eye on a lot of that. Last thing I'll say about travel insurance specifically, whether you purchase through us, through Wonderwell or someone else, the sooner you purchase, the more it can cover. we've seen people who...

want to purchase insurance after they have a reason to cancel and that's too late or we see that it's too late to have cancellation or pre-existing conditions covered. So when you're looking to buy a travel insurance of course please come to Wonderwell and go come through Laura Erickson's link but also just know it's never too soon to look into it and to purchase coverage.

Right?

thank you Laura. Alright, see you.

All right, Erin Thank you so much for chatting today and Talk to you soon

That's all for this episode of Type 2 Travel. If you're loving these conversations, hit subscribe or follow, give us a 5 star rating, and share with your adventure seeking friends. Remember, the best stories rarely come from staying in your comfort zone. Until next time, this is Laura Ericson reminding you that your passport is collecting dust, your PTO is piling up, and the world is out there waiting for you to explore it.