Travel insurance is one of those things you don’t really want to think about — until you’re already on the road and something goes wrong. Before I went backpacking I put it off for a long time, because I treated it as a boring admin task that I had to tick off. But after spending months backpacking through Southeast Asia, it’s become one of the few non‑negotiables I travel with.

Thankfully, I never actually had to make a claim during my time in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. No hospital visits, no lost bags, no nightmare scooter accidents. But having insurance gave me peace of mind — and if I were heading off again tomorrow, I’d choose True Traveller without hesitation.

This post isn’t a comparison site or a sales pitch. It’s simply what I’ve learned from backpacking long‑term, what I look for now, and the travel insurance I genuinely think works best for backpackers.

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Do You Really Need Travel Insurance for Backpacking?

If you’re taking a short city break, travel insurance can feel optional. Backpacking is different.

When you’re travelling for weeks or months at a time, moving between countries, riding scooters, taking overnight buses, hiking, swimming, and generally living out of a backpack — the chances of something going wrong increase. Even something minor like food poisoning or a twisted ankle can turn expensive very quickly.

I was lucky. I didn’t need to use my policy at all during Southeast Asia. I spent months moving through countries — crossing borders, hopping on night buses, renting scooters, trekking, swimming, and staying in the good, the bad and the ugly. There were plenty of moments where things could have gone sideways — minor accidents I saw other travellers deal with, food poisoning that knocked people out for days, scooter crashes that ended in hospital visits. Having travel insurance didn’t change how I travelled, but it changed how relaxed I felt doing it. It meant I wasn’t constantly second‑guessing every decision or worrying about worst‑case scenarios.

That peace of mind is something you only really notice when it’s there.

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What Backpackers Actually Need From Travel Insurance

Not all travel insurance policies are designed with backpackers in mind. Before choosing a policy, these are the things I now always check:

• Medical cover — especially for emergency treatment abroad
• Repatriation and evacuation if something serious happens
• Cover for multiple countries on one trip
• Flexibility if plans change
• Activities cover (scooter riding, hiking, snorkeling, etc.)
• No fixed return date, or the ability to extend while abroad

A lot of cheaper policies look fine on the surface but quietly exclude the exact things backpackers end up doing.

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How I’d Choose Travel Insurance If I Were Leaving Again Tomorrow

If I were planning another long-term backpacking trip, this would be my simple checklist:

• Does it cover all the countries I’m visiting?
• Are common backpacking activities included?
• Can I extend the policy while I’m already abroad?
• Is the wording clear and easy to understand?
• Does it feel designed for long-term travel, not just holidays?
• What do people say in their reviews when it comes to actually making a claim with this company? (this is the most important)

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The Travel Insurance I’d Choose Again: True Traveller

If I were to backpack Southeast Asia again — or head off on another long‑term trip — I’d choose True Traveller.

The thing I’ve found when doing a lot of research into backpacking insurance is that if you look hard enough for long enough you will always find someone with a negative experience regardless of the company.  In the end, I came to the conclusion that I was never going to find the perfect company with all 5 star stellar reviews. Plus, I found a lot of reviews are given by people who never needed to make a claim, but how a company handles a claim is without a doubt the most important thing for me. When I was trawling through reviews I filtered by keyword to ensure ‘claim’ was mentioned to find more complete experiences with each company. Then I just had to go off the balance of good to bad. 

In the end, the company with the most 5* reviews when it came to an actual claim that also allowed for cover without having a return flight booked was True Traveller.* They also allowed for Alex and I to be put on the same cover which was really convenient and offered cover for a lot of backpacker activities as standard. Some insurers only allow for couples who by definition live together at the same address, which if you are an OG follower of my Tiktok account you will know that is not the case for us. Another positive to using True Traveller is that Alex’s asthma was covered at no extra cost, whereas when I got a quote with Travel Insurance 4 Medical the cost increased by over £100. The only real negative is that the Ha Giang Loop is not covered as an activity at all with True Traveller. I discuss how we got around this here.

In terms of the specifics of the policy, we opted for the Traveller policy* for Worldwide exc. USA/Canada cover with the Traveller pack (comes as standard with the policy and covers 92 backpacking activities). If you are looking to do any other activities that aren’t included in the Traveller pack you can upgrade the policy to one of the other packs. We then also added specified items insurance for both of our phones. With the Traveller policy this does mean that they’re only covered up to £450 which obviously doesn’t cover the full cost of our phones but we thought it would be better than nothing. This increased the premium by £115 which for the two phones we thought was worth it. Once you’ve bought the policy you get access to your MyTT account where you can find information on how to make a claim and you can also add your insurance details to your Apple Wallet or Android YourWallet for quick access to your policy and any emergency numbers you need. In total for both Alex & I to be covered under the same policy with specified gadget insurance we paid £550, so £275 each for just over a 3 month trip.  

👉 You can check out True Traveller here if you want to see whether it’s right for your trip.

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Why I Didn’t Go for the Cheapest Option

It’s tempting to choose the cheapest policy and hope for the best. I get it. I was on a budget too.

When you’re backpacking, you’re not travelling in a bubble. You’re on night buses, renting scooters, staying in hostels, and moving around constantly. The cheapest policies often come with strict exclusions or conditions that only become obvious when you need help.

For me, travel insurance is about peace of mind rather than price. I’d rather pay slightly more and know I’m covered for the realities of backpacking.

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Common Travel Insurance Mistakes Backpackers Make

These are a few things I see people get caught out by:

• Assuming scooter riding is automatically covered (it often isn’t)
• Not checking activity exclusions
• Forgetting to declare pre‑existing conditions
• Booking policies that require a return flight
• Not checking the maximum trip length

Taking 10 extra minutes to read the policy details can save a lot of stress later.

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Is True Traveller Right for Everyone?

Probably not — and that’s okay.

Travel insurance is a really personal thing that will depend on the type of cover you need for your backpacking trip and the activities you intend to participate in. There is definitely no one company that fits all and that I can truly recommend for you to go with. I can only recommend what I chose and why. Unfortunately, you will have to spend a bit of time looking into what works for you. 

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Alternatives to True Traveller

Some of the more popular travel insurance companies that were suggested to me include:

• OutBackers (underwritten by AXA Group)
• SafetyWing
• True Traveller (Inter Partner Assistance S.A., which is part of the AXA Group)
• AXA Backpacker

If I’m being completely honest, I have heard of people sharing particularly worrying stories about companies that are being underwritten by AXA when it comes to actually trying to make a claim. However, AXA is also one of the biggest if not the biggest insurance group so the chances of there being a negative experience is definitely more likely. 

One particularly positive story that I came across on Tiktok involving an actual claim was with a company called Travel Insurance 4 Medical. They don’t seem to be hugely well known, probably because they only insure trips with a booked return flight, which doesn’t suit a lot of backpackers, including us. However, they do offer very good cover for a lot of pre-existing medical conditions.

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Backpacking is unpredictable — that’s part of why people love it. Travel insurance doesn’t take away from the experience; it just gives you a safety net so you can focus on the journey itself. I was lucky enough to get through my Southeast Asia backpacking trip without needing to use my travel insurance — and I hope it stays that way on future trips too. But having the right cover made the experience far less stressful.

If I were packing my bag again tomorrow, True Traveller would be my choice.

As always, do your own research and choose a policy that fits your travel style. This post contains affiliate links, but I only recommend products I genuinely trust and would use myself.

You will never regret having travel insurance but you may just regret not having it. 

Safe travels,

Em x

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