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Long-term Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for backpackers and other habitual nomads

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Often the best adventures have no end date… that’s why World Nomads has designed flexible travel insurance policies for all types of travellers. If you're looking to travel for more than a week or two, we have travel insurance that can keep Canadians covered for up to 12 months.

What can long-term travel insurance cover?

World Nomads Travel Insurance policies offer cover for a range of travel related risks. Whether you’re going on a long trip or a short trip, all of our policies provide cover for:

  • Trip cancellation and Trip Interruption coverage may reimburse your prepaid nonrefundable, trip costs if you get sick or injured at the last minute and need to make a change to your travel plans. Find additional covered risks in the policy wording.
  • Emergency medical treatment, like an urgent visit to the doctor, medicine to help you get well, x-rays and hospital stays.
  • Ambulance Transportation to get you to the nearest qualified medical service provider.
  • Emergency medical evacuation if you get injured or really sick and your treating Physician recommends that you return to your home province.
  • Return of Remains to bring your body back to your home province if you pass away overseas (it’s terrible to think about, but it happens).
  • Delayed, lost or stolen baggage.
  • 24//7 worldwide emergency assistance.

Our travel insurance policies are designed by travellers, and we cover more than 150 activities, sports, volunteer and work experiences, including casual bar work, skiing, volunteering, hiking and more. 

Who might want to buy travel insurance for a long trip?

Travellers of all ages might be interested in purchasing a long stay travel insurance policy. Here are a few examples:

  • University students going on study abroad who want to travel in between quarters or semesters.
  • Working holiday makers.
  • Road-trippers on a long-term holiday.
  • Digital nomads making the most of work and play.
  • New retirees heading out to explore the world with their newfound freedom.
  • Families travelling for the summer holidays.

How long can travel insurance cover me for?

Our policies are designed to be flexible … we’re nomads after all! We offer long-duration policies and allow travellers to extend their cover or buy more cover while they’re on the road.

Canadian residents can buy a World Nomads travel insurance policy for a maximum duration of 12 months. When you get a quote, you can compare our two plans, Standard and Explorer, and download the full policy wording before you buy.

What if I don’t know how long I want to travel for?

If you’re planning on exploring the world for a while, but you don’t know how long you’ll be gone for, don’t fret. You have a couple of options to ensure you’re covered while you’re away:

  • Extend your policy: You can extend your policy online and from overseas while travelling, as long as you extend it before it expires. Conditions and limitations apply so check the policy details before you purchase to make sure this will suit your needs.
  • Purchase a new policy: If your policy has expired, you can purchase a new one while you’re still travelling. Just note that you may have to wait 48 hours for full cover to apply (you can be covered straight away if you're injured in an accident after you buy a policy). Your policy wording will have full details to understand the cover, limits and exclusions.
  • Purchase and track your policies with your World Nomads membership:A free membership gives you access to all of our great content and safety advice in our member dedicated portal. And if you buy insurance with us, your membership allows you to  manage and view multiple policies in one place online, making it easy to buy more policies as needed, and access online claims forms. Make sure you log-in before purchasing each new policy. 

What’s not covered by travel insurance?

All travel insurance policies have exclusions and limitations. Here are some of ours – we won’t provide cover for:

  • Anything illegal (you didn’t really think we’d cover that did you?) Be sure to respect both the local laws and mores of your host countries.
  • If you've taken drugs or overindulged in alcohol.
  • Non-emergency treatment that can wait until you return home (remember it's not regular health insurance; it's for out of country medical emergencies).
  • Ongoing treatment at home.
  • Some pre-existing conditions, especially those not stable and controlled.
  • Cancelling your trip due to fear of travel or just changing your mind.

This is only a summary of coverage and does not include the full terms and conditions of the policy. It is important you read and understand your policy as it contains benefits, conditions, exclusions and pre-existing condition exclusions. If you do not understand your coverage, or if you have questions, just ask us.

Planning a long trip?

Don't forget to pack World Nomads travel insurance for your next trip. Whether you're headed off for a months-long backpacking adventure, or embarking on a gap year, World Nomads will be with you every step of the way with:

  • 24/7 emergency services
  • Medical cover
  • Gear cover
  • Trip cancellation
  • And more...

Altitude Sickness in Peru

After a full-day tour to Chacaltaya and Valle de la luna, I started to get dizzy, had difficulty breathing and strong pains in my chest. The next morning I contacted World Nomads Emergency Assistance and was directed to Clinica del Sur from La Paz, where I stayed 24 hours under medical surveillance for altitude sickness. After being discharged from the hospital, I continued on my next tour. Yet suddenly I felt a strong pain in my chest and got a headache, so I returned to the medical clinic for an hour of oxygen treatment. The next morning, I flew back to Lima, which was safely at sea level.
Canadian in Peru

Travel Insurance Benefits: how we can take care of you

Trip Cancellation

Protect your hard earned vacation from unexpected cancellation.

  • Explorer Plan: $5,000
  • Standard Plan: $2,500
Trip Protection
  • Are you, your family sick, injured or deceased?
  • Strike at your departure or arrival point?
  • Official travel advisory warning not to travel?

We’ve got your back.

Emergency Medical Insurance

Take the pain out of medical or dental costs.

  • Explorer Plan: $10 million
  • Standard Plan: $5 million
Emergency Medical Insurance
  • Accidentally injured?
  • Suddenly sick?
  • Need prescription meds?

We’ve got your back.

Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation

We’ll get you to hospital or home quickly.

  • Explorer Plan: $500,000
  • Standard Plan: $500,000
Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation
  • Banged up abroad?
  • Need to get to a hospital urgently?
  • You or a family member deceased?

Help starts here.

Protect your gear

Covers the theft, damage or delay of your bags, tech and sports gear.

  • Explorer Plan: $3,000
  • Standard Plan: $1,000
Protect your gear
  • Passport or gear stolen?
  • Tech trashed?
  • Bags delayed?

Help starts here.

  • Emergency Medical Expenses
  • Emergency Dental for Injury or Sickness
  • Bedside Companion Travel and Subsistence
  • Emergency Professional Services
  • Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation
  • Return of Travel Companion/Dependent Children
  • Return to Your Trip Destination
  • Return of Remains
  • Travel Accident
  • Flight Accident
  • Trip Cancellation
  • Trip Interruption
  • Trip Delay
  • Baggage and Personal Effects Theft or Damage
  • Baggage and Sporting Equipment Delay
  • Travel Documents Theft or Damage
  • Sporting Equipment Theft or Loss by a Common Carrier
  • Covered Adventure Sports listed in Policy
Assistance Services Included
  • LiveTravelTM Emergency Assistance
  • Worldwide Travel Assistance
  • Adventure Travel Hotline
  • 24/7 Security
  • Travel Medical Assistance
  • Bag Trak
This is a general summary for Canadian residents only. It does not include all terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions and termination provisions of the travel insurance plans described. Coverage may not be available for residents of all provinces. Check the Travel Insurance Policy for full details.

We cover 250+ activities you love

Snow 20 activities
Water 43 activities
Air 13 activities
Land 61 activities
Sports 75 activities
Experiences 12 activities
  • Scuba diving
  • Mountain biking
  • Surfing
  • Bungee jumping
  • Skiing
Activities shown in blue are automatically included in the Standard Plan and the Explorer Plan. Activities shown in orange require an optional upgrade for coverage to apply. Special conditions and exclusions may apply to certain activities, check the Travel Insurance Policy for full details.

24/7 emergency assistance

Whether you need medical or dental assistance or advice, emergency evacuation or travel assistance, our team are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year before and during your trip.

Are you in need of emergency assistance right now?

Telephone +1 866 878 0192 (toll-free from Canada and the Continental U.S.) or +1 416 646 3723 (collect from anywhere else in the world)

Contact the team

Travel insurance. Simple & flexible.

Travel insurance for independent travellers and intrepid families. Nobody wants to think about all the things that could go wrong on their trip, but these things can and do happen. So be prepared and get your travel insurance today.

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FAQ

Here are our most frequently asked questions. You can also visit our community page at Ask a Nomad, or ask the team your own question by pressing the link below.

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  • What's covered if I need to cancel my trip?
    There's coverage in both Standard and Explorer plans for pre-paid transportation and accommodation expenses if you need to cancel because the doctor certifies that you're medically unfit to travel, or you, your travel companion or a close relative is hospitalized or dies, among other covered reasons. For more details, click here.
  • What if I get sick while travelling?
    If you’re injured in an accident or suddenly get sick while travelling, you can be covered for emergency medical treatment including: hospitalization; out-patient treatment; prescribed medicines, and diagnostic tests; and being brought home if medically necessary. If you’re participating in any adventure sports, make sure your plan covers them. You may need to upgrade depending on your choice of activities.