Dont' forget or ignore the medical insurance.....

I had a heart attack while hiking in the hills of the Basque country of France.  This was probably the best country in the world to have an attack -  We were lucky to be able to benefit from the best medical system in the world at a cost that would have necessitated a re-financing of our mortgage in the US.  The total cost of ambulance and 5 days in an intensive care unit came to a mere $15,000 Euros.  Fortunately,  I had the insurance and pre-condition statements to cover the total cost.  The moral of this message is:  Don't take a risk.  Declare all your pre-conditions, changes in drugs etc. as required by the insurance companies.  Even for a short stay, don't take a chance.  Affordable travel or home exchange gets kinds of meaningless when you have to foot as substantial  bill for medical expenses.  Several years ago, we ventured into the US for a one-day trip from Canada and had a car accident.  Luckily, there were no injuries for we had no medical travel insurance.  But what if we did have injuries and had ended up in a hospital?  It's just not worth it, at any age.