Our travel medical insurance and other things

We had a time change here in Albania a week ago, and for some reason we just haven't been able to adjust. We're normally up between 6:30am and 7:00am every morning, but it was almost 8:00am when we got up Friday morning. Not sure what's going on... might have to start setting the alarm!

I wanted to tell you about our new travel medical insurance. 

For many years, we were self insured. In other words, if we needed to see a doctor, we would have to pay out of pocket. I know, most of you would be horrified. 

But in over ten years of travel, we only had to pay to see a doctor twice... once when Ruth cut her hand in South Africa, and the second time was when I had a bad rash in Colombia that wouldn't go away. So we certainly saved a lot of money over those years, and the gamble we took with not having medical insurance premiums paid off for us. 

When we started looking into this German residency thing, one of the requirements is that you have to have medical insurance. So I started looking into it. 

I'm still not sold on the expense though. Ruth and I disagree a little bit on this, but she has to be happy too, so we are now insured travelers whether we end up getting German residency or not.

Ended up choosing a policy that included Covid related problems. We bought a policy that cost $207 USD per month for the two of us. Which is reasonable, however it had a $5,000 USD deductible which meant that you would only make a claim if it was something quite serious.

But last month, somebody recommended another company, and so I did some more research. It's really tough to compare apples to apples... there are so many different providers, and so much fine print to read through. The insurance companies (and their lawyers) don't do their customers any favors in this regard. 

But this company that was recommended makes things pretty basic and understandable. We are now paying $192 USD per month (for the both of us), which is only slightly cheaper, but with a $100 USD deductible which means we would be able to make a claim for a much more minor ailment.

The company is called Heymondo and we signed up to their Long Term plan. So we paid for 3 months in advance at those rates, but it gets even better the more that you extend it up to another 8 months. And if we choose the 8 month extension, our monthly rate for the two of us goes down to $146 USD. So it's really not a bad deal for long term travelers such as ourselves.

The other thing is that this is a worldwide policy, valid in every country including the ones with ridiculously expensive healthcare. It is only not valid in "zones of armed conflict" or your home country.

So with that done, we can now feel better about getting sick!

We went out and did some grocery shopping yesterday. In fact, we do this almost every day! Being right in the central area, we have so many shops nearby... everything is within walking distance. So we only buy enough that we need for the next day or two. We're actually kind of enjoying doing it this way, rather than the typical big box store type of stocking up that we do in Canada or the U.S..

We got home and put the key in the door lock. Something went click, but the lock didn't open. We played with it for a few minutes, but there was something wrong internally. So we went and got our host lady Susana, and she tried. She went and got her husband, but of course it was the same result.

Next thing you know, they had a guy who seemed to be the neighbourhood handyman over and he managed to get the door open, after taking a few things apart. They went to a nearby hardware store and bought a new lock mechanism.

Lock pieces everywhere!

So while they were working on this, the husband asked if we wanted to try his homemade raki. Raki is the local Albanian hooch. Twice distilled spirits made from the pulp of either grapes or plums. His is made from grapes that are grown right here in the garden.

All of this was done communicating with Google Translate.

Well, the stuff is rocket fuel. He's telling us, "only in small amounts" and "don't drive after drinking this stuff". Yeah, a few sips is all you need!

He ended up giving us a small water bottle filled with the stuff. 

We are off to the dentist today at noon to hopefully finish up my bridge procedure.

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Spring is here. Lots of different Scotts Lawn Care products are on sale, today only.

And in Canada...

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