THIS Is Why You Buy Trip Cancellation Insurance!

As I previously mentioned, I had booked passage on the WriterCon cruise from Seattle to Alaska and back, with a scheduled departure date of May 31st, 2025. I was looking forward to meeting some new friends who share an interest in writing, learning more about the craft, and enjoying the scenery along the Inland Passage.

I’ve been to Alaska probably 35 times, more or less, back when I flew airplanes for a living. We would fly into Anchorage and typically lay over for a four day weekend. During the layovers I enjoyed riding in seaplanes to go fishing for king salmon, silver salmon, and halibut. I have done my share of hiking, snowmobiling, sightseeing, and have had numerous encounters with bald eagles, moose, and yes, grizzly bears. There is no place on Earth like Alaska.

For all that, my activities have been limited mostly to the Kenai Penninsula and the Anchorage area. I’d never been to Ketchikan, Juneau, or Sitka in the southeastern part of the state. So this cruise would allow me to see new territory.

With just over a week to go before departure, I took a look at my back yard and decided to see how much work I could get done prior to my trip. There were limbs to be cut and stacked by the fire pit. And I was even giving thought to sprucing the place up by planting some flowers. First things first, though. The grandkids were coming over for a sleepover and I had promised them I woul fill the hot tub and get the water nice and warm for them. I would get the hose connected and start filling the tub, monitoring it while cutting limbs.

That was the plan, anyway.

The water spigot on the side of my house is mounted pretty low, so I had to get down on my knees in loose gravel to get the hose on. It kept wanting to crossthread, so it took a while, but I finally got it. At my age, when you get down on your knees to do anything, you really should have a plan in place for how you are going to get back up. Unfortunately, I didn’t.

With nothing to grab onto to support myself or to pull myself up, I only made it part way. My right foot slipped in the loose gravel buckling under me just as I lost my balance. I fell hard, and on the way down, I felt my ankle snap like a twig. There are three bones in the ankle, I have learned, and I broke all three.

My leg is in a cast, and I can barely get around in my own house on crutches. So flying, driving, and cruising are not options for me for the foreseeable future. I had debated whether or not to purchase trip cancellation insurance, thinking there was nothing short of an emergency that would prevent me from going. But I did buy the insurance, and I am so glad I did!

While the other writers are enjoying the WriterCon Cruise, I have challenged myself to press on with my writing here at home while I am healing and not able to to anything else.

Do I recommend trip cancellation insurance?

YES!!!

Update: June 7, 2025

The WriterCon Cruise is now over. Each day and each night, as I sat at home in my chair waiting for my ankle to heal, I wondered what I would be doing on the ship. What new friends did I not meet? What workshops would I have attended and what topics might I have been learning more about as I endeavor to improve my writing? What sites would I be seeing? Unfortunately, I will never know.

When I first had the accident, I thought, “I’ll just have them put a cast on my leg and I’ll be good to go. I’m only now, after two weeks, beginning to get around fairly well with the crutches. I can only imagine what it would have been like to try to travel on the airlines and make my way around on the ship. Glad I listened to the doctors and stayed home. There will be other conferences, other cruises.

I now know that there are three bones in the ankle, and I managed to break each of them. There have been times when the pain was bad, and I managed it by staying off my feet as much as I could and by taking prescribed pain killers on an as-needed basis. I think today I may be able to go a full 24 hours without any.

I go in on June 19th to talk with the doctor about surgery. I hope it’s not necessary.