WorldNomads.com: Responsible Vacation Insurance That Gives Back

Forget boring responsible vacation insurance, and take a look at WorldNomads.com. Targeting adventurous  travelers, WorldNomads.com offers travel insurance to residents of over 150 countries. Bungee jumping? Skiing? Going swimming with sharks? They will cover you.

Unlike most insurance companies, WorldNomads.com puts the fine print in not-so-fine-print to explain the policy they offer.  You're not covered for illegal behavior, drunken absurdity or acts of insanity, but that you're covered under normal conditions. Provided that you follow responsible vacation standards and don't put yourself in danger, a WorldNomads.com policy will cover you.  You can renew (or start) your policy online at anytime, and the coverage is quite simple. You don't have to decide between the nitty gritty, or tell them whether or not you smoke, or whether or not you plan to kayak backwards down Class V rapids (beware, though: if you're going backwards, they probably won't cover you).

Don't trust them? Of course not, they're an insurance company. To prove that they are not "cheating lying thieves" WorldNomads.com has printed stories from travelers they've covered with their responsible vacation insurance. Injuries covered included an ear drum rupture, whiplash, an aneurism, appendicitis, chicken pox, a dog attack an so on. Other issues they covered: a stolen ipod, a cell phone that went through the washing machine, several muggings, and so forth.

WorldNomads.com has done more than make travel insurance cool, though. They also offer free travel journal services, free travel language guides, travel tips and stories. And, more importantly, they've created "Footprints", a way to give back.  Several Footprints programs will soon be underway, including two in Nepal: a Teacher Training Program and an Outreach Microsurgical Eye Camp. The latter provides eye care for rural Nepalese, and the former involves training 290 teachers to work in over 65 schools in the Khumbu region. When you purchase responsible vacation insurance, you can choose which of the current programs you'd like to contribute to.

Footprints has raised over $1 million from micro-donations through only a handful of e-commerce partners. Over the next 5 years, Footprints hopes to increase their fundraising capacity and raise over $5 million in donations. The Footprints Network is a not for profit incorporated in Australia (founded by WorldNomads.com).  Essentially, they connect the NGOs and charities to donors. Footprints believes that poverty is everyone's moral responsibility, and hopes to make a difference for persons living in impoverished conditions by encouraging donations and making sure that their partners work with transparency and integrity. Meanwhile, Footprints takes $0.00 for administration, salaries, or other costs.