The determination of whether you should purchase travel insurance is a determination of whether you want to assume nothing bad can happen during your travels, or whether should something bad happen you can adequately resolve these unforeseen events.

None of us think something bad will happen. We assume incorrectly that fire, flood, earthquake and terrorism will happen to others. We assume we won't have a heart attack or stroke, we won't be felled by illness. We assume wrong.

The question, "should you purchase travel insurance" is perhaps answered by asking yourself why you purchased homeowners insurance, or medical insurance or life insurance. You purchased them so that your consistent small payments would assure you of having someone else provide help in case of a catastrophic event for which you are unprepared. Purchasing travel insurance, just like purchasing any other insurance, is not just about receiving the funds to recover. It's also about having the professional assistance of those who know what has to happen for you and your family to recover, and who do make that happen. It's about cooler heads prevailing.

Should you purchase travel insurance? Well, let's look at a few things that could, and do happen, to overseas and even domestic travelers. Then, you decide if you should purchase travel insurance.

You're from Minnesota. You've never been to the ocean. You book a hotel room in Florida for a week but you are then ordered to evacuate due to an expected hurricane. But you have non-refundable airline tickets, and your hotel and rental car are already paid for. How do you replace the airline tickets and get reimbursed for your stay? If you had known this was going to happen, what would your answer have been to the question, "Should you purchase travel insurance?"

You're on an island in the Caribbean, ready for your cruise back home. You find out that the cruise ship company has gone bankrupt and there will be no return cruise. What do you do? How do you get your money back? Most importantly, how do you get back home? If you had known this was going to happen, what would your answer have been to the question, "Should you purchase travel insurance?"

You're ready to take your family on a much-needed vacation to Hawaii. Your daughter is felled by an attack of appendicitis and must have immediate surgery. But your airline tickets are non-refundable. How do you get your money back? If you had known this was going to happen, what would your answer have been to the question, "Should you purchase travel insurance?"