What’s the plan? (Part 2)
This post is a continuation about my preparations for a three month bicycle tour from Norway to Milan. This article covers topics about travel insurance and security when touring.
A million hypothetical nightmare scenarios crossed my mind while planning my trip.
- What if some deadbeat steals my panniers in Hamburg when I’m walking inside a supermarket?
Or even worse,
- What if an errant driver hits me while I’m bicycling along a narrow highway shoulder?
or….
How to protect myself?
Since this was my first bicycle tour and most of my gear was brand new, I caved into the paranoia of being surrounded by constant danger and opted to purchase a complete travel insurance policy, including full theft coverage for my hypothetical situations, just in case…
I paid $360 for a 3 month travel insurance plan from World Nomads. This was the upgraded and therefore pricier policy, consisting of $100,000 in emergency medical and a list of other benefits including $3,000 in theft coverage. Most importantly, it covered any emergencies due to bicycle touring. A benefits summary is listed below:
So in theory, everything (including myself) was covered in an emergency.
Was the additional theft coverage worth it?
After the first few weeks into my tour, I realized emergency medical coverage is always a good idea to carry, but my theft policy was a bit excessive. My paranoia of constantly being shadowed by the gang version of “Oceans 11”, who were planning a daring and coordinated heist was later to be determined completely exaggerated.
Over my three month bicycle tour I came to the realization:
- Small European villages and countryside areas are generally safe and have relatively little crime.
- Medium to larger cities require basic precautions and common sense when securing a bicycle
Out the top 11 countries considered to be the safest in the world, 9 are European – World Peace Index
The vast majority of my route through Scandinavia, Germany, France and Switzerland passed through mostly quaint countrysides and sparsely populated villages.
Rural Areas
The more I traveled through rural areas, the more the locals seemed almost too eager to offer any assistance. In Germany, they even chased me down to return items that had fallen out of my bag.
On multiple occasions in Sweden and Denmark, children rested their new bicycles outside against a storefront unlocked, and walked inside.
Really?! What were they thinking!?
Surely my fears were a bit overblown.
Bicycling in Cities
Larger cities such as Copenhagen, Cologne, or Oslo are extremely bicycle friendly and as a result, thefts are much more common. But I followed these basic rules when bicycling around:
- At night, secure your bicycle inside a basement, pack patio, or balcony whenever possible, never on the street. Hotels, hostels, and even couch surfing hosts should have some private space to store your gear.
- During the day, secure your bicycle in the middle of a high traffic area, never a quiet alleyway. A thief will be less likely to steal a bicycle if there’s many people around and they cannot identify if the owner is watching.
- Don’t bother bringing a heavy and bulky galvanized lock while touring, it will only add unnecessary weight. If thief wants a bicycle, he will steal it no matter what lock is securing it. I used a simple and small combination lock to secure my bike. It was less weight to carry and got the job done.
- Keep any valuables (phone, passport, wallet) in a detachable handlebar bag to easily carry along with you. The most expensive item I left in my bags when walking around town would have been my dirty laundry…and I don’t think it’s resale value if taken was too high.
Luckily following these tips, nothing was stolen and I didn’t need to use my travel insurance during my tour. I used common sense when securing my bicycle and it helped avoid making an unfortunate trip to the local police station.
So…Score 1 – me
Score for bicycle thief/random acts of terror – 0
Until next vacation…