This week is Good Will Week, during which travellers are being urged to ensure they have an up-to-date will before they go away.
Cheery subject, I know, but a survey of more than 2000 Australians by the NSW Trustee and Guardian service found 47 per cent of people took more risks and did things they wouldn’t otherwise do when they were away on holiday. Eighteen per cent put it down to feeling “more relaxed and invincible” when on holiday, while more than 60 per cent said they just wanted to make the most of their trip and have fun.
Only about half of those surveyed had a will in place.
Statistics from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade show that more than 1100 Aussies died overseas in 2010-11.
And if you think only old people need wills, the travel insurance provider 1Cover recently named travellers aged 23 to 30 as the most likely to get into strife while overseas, particularly where alcohol was involved.
While many claims relate to lost or damaged property, there are also plenty of skiing accidents and motorbike or scooter crashes.
This article is an excerpt from Jane E. Fraser’s weekly travel column in The Sun Herald, Sydney.
