To purchase or not to purchase, that is the question. It's never been something I think of when I travel, but I'm going to Europe: a lot of pickpocket hotspots. Now that I'm thinking of adding Barcelona to my trip, I'm even more paranoid. I saw my friend today, and she'd been in Barcelona for exchange for a year. To my question of, 'Did you get pickpocketed?' she gave me a sheepish smile: 'Three times.' Two iPhones and her wallet. 'But Barcelona was very safe!' And then there's also Paris. Enough said.
I'm just indecisive of what to do. My university's insurance will cover my leisure travel as part of exchange, which is limited to health and medical. It's the pickpocketing I'm worried about, if my camera or laptop goes missing. I hate paperwork - and insurance companies aren't going to make it easy. Who knows what loopholes or how difficult that will be. I guess for me it'd be: counting my losses v insurance bureaucracy.
I also have bureaucracy issues with getting my student visa for China, so I might have to take a gamble and go to America and ship my passport back to Sydney. It's cheaper than flying back, and infinitely more fun! I don't think I'll need extra travel insurance for Canada/USA, so if I do, it would just be the Europe leg, and I'm not sure how that would work. Even though I will be staying with friend and family for the American leg, three months of holidays is going to be expensive.
Experiences with pickpocketing in Europe and travel insurance, and advice?
