Yesterday, @RiBCN asked me this on Twitter:

@PickPocketMap Just playing devil’s advocate one second: doesn’t having insurance make the holder more apathetic about their belongings?

First of all, kudos to @RiBCN on being featured in a newspaper yesterday!

Thanks for a good question. Regarding whether having travel insurance makes one more complacent, thereby increasing one’s chance of being robbed, I don’t agree. Travel insurance provides some monetary assistance in the event of a robbery, usually only after producing a police report and receipts of expenses associated with the robbery. In most cases you still have to pay a deductible and you lose out on depreciation, and in some cases there are limits on categories of items you can put in the claim.

Travel insurance will not:

1. Bring back lost photographs,
2. Bring back time lost during and after the vacation (this is by far the most aggravating aspect, in my opinion),
3. Help with the psychological feeling of being violated,
4. Help erase painful memories such as this one.

Bottom line, having travel insurance shouldn’t give one a false sense of security. Instead, use it as another aspect of traveling wisely, follow safety tips (hmmm do I smell a blog post?), and have an enjoyable and hassle-free vacation!