Even though you know what country you’re going to on holiday, a lot of countries will assume you’re in the UK and Europe automatically, so if you’re going out of the EU it’s important you get worldwide cover to insure you- because of all the different rules and regulations outside of the EU you may find yourself needing that extra help at some point and if your policy doesn’t cover you outside of Europe you might find yourself in a bit of trouble.
As with EU travel you can get either single or multi trip insurance and can put on the extras like baggage cover and sports insurance or any medical insurance you might need. Medical insurance is an important one for everyone, healthy or not, when outside of Europe because of the heightened risk of disease- even if you’ve had all the vaccinations- is strong. On the subject, for most non-EU countries it is recommended you have your Hep A and Hep B, Typhoid, MMR and Tetanus-diphtheria as basic cover and then research any other specific vaccinations you might need such as rabies or yellow fever and have all these injections at least a month before you go, or the recommended time given by your doctor (for example, Hep B can take 6 months to finish the course). Always get a card to certify you’ve had the injections and take it with you on holiday as proof. Some injections may incur a cost, but it will be worth it to prevent the disease.
Bad as it sounds, outside of Europe you do have a heightened risk of crime, especially in the more rural areas- even in Europe you have that, really- so contents insurance will need to be a part of your worldwide insurance. Remember to follow basic common sense and don’t carry too much cash and use travellers cheques were possible and stay out of places you don’t know or have been warned against.
Because worldwide travel is becoming more and more popular with people taking gap years from work or university you can opt to have backpackers insurance instead which offers the same level of cover as worldwide travel insurance or multi trip insurance with extra care for contents and money. The same process follows as when searching for any type of insurance- comparison websites are the best, but sometimes if you’re wanting more specific cover you wouldn’t go wrong to look at more specific sites such as worldwideinsure.com or insureandgo.com- which offers winter sports cover for free and 40 other activity sports, plus under 18′s are covered for free.