Self-care & duty-of-care when it comes to our state of mind in light of natural disasters, mass shootings, passengers removed from flights and general unrest is required.

Protecting ourselves and our team/employees/co-workers from the stresses related to global unrest, personal safety and emotional fatigue of a life in on the road or far from ‘home’ is essential in this highly mobile world.

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The influential global travel intelligence voice Skift has said that, ‘permanxiety’ will potentially become the world’s new shared social experience. The term ‘permanxiety‘ was actually coined or created by Skift in an effort to describe the high levels of worry felt by today’s traveler, about everything from culture shock to climate change, Trumpism to technology, terrorism to racial tension, disasters and disparity of wealth experienced outside their home cultures.

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“Travel is where all the Permanxieties show up in a concentrated form. From the security theater at airports, the cattle-prod state of U.S. airlines, the Trump Muslim travel ban, the laptop ban on airlines, the high-profile terrorist attacks at tourism landmarks in Western countries, and more, travel has become the global crucible for these Permanxieties.”  Skift

Let’s focus on two critical aspects. Personal responsibility (self-care) and corporate responsibility (duty of care).

If you are self-employed or unemployed then you more than likely have to assume all of the weight of this journey.

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Duty of Care

Duty of Care is the legal mandate/statue by which employers are required to pinpoint predictable risk and implement plans to prevent, avoid and protect their employees from those risks. Types of risks can include, but aren’t limited to:

• Travel-related illnesses
• Urgent or life-threatening medical emergencies
• Logistic and security issues in places experiencing political and/or cultural conflicts
• Natural disasters
• Pandemic
• Sub-par medical care/facilities
• Pre-trip assistance
• Alerts, tracking and notification

Many companies have a myriad of insurance products that they feel cover these aspects and may have a crisis response company on retainer which then provides response on a fee-for-service format. Yet, leading the way in this field is a more rounded approach that is provided by an industry giant, FocusPoint International. They have a model that is a disruptor, whether a company that has travelers (periodic or frequent) or expatriate/inpatriate workers, students (study abroad), or charity (ngo, cause-focused, mission/faith-based organizations) or if it’s a family/individual – any of these can purchase a membership that provides pre-trip advise, response and evacuation, repatriation and consultation at a reasonable price (no retainer, no fee-for-service, no claims, no deductible, no surprises). Their membership program is called CAP and CAP Medical.

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Self-Care

Self care is often the most challenging when passing between and across cultural boundaries. Your health insurance benefit may have cover mental health sessions or an EAP service that allows for call-in for counseling/mental health assistance, yet most people are on their own when it comes to taking care of their mental health – which is the root of permanxiety. Types of strategic self-care focus areas are:

• Friendships. Maintain and build friendships. Join Internations and other social groups to find new friends. Skype/WhatsApp/Phone-a-friend, send cards from different places. Be a friend.
• Focus on your Food. You will be stronger emotionally and able to deal with stressors if you take care of what goes in your body.
• Find ways to exercise. Download an app, join a gym, walk/run, stretch in your room.
• Sleep enough. We are renewed through our sleep. Read the book ‘Eat, Move, Sleep‘
• Pursue relaxation. Determine what brings you peace. Disengage from technology. Be hungry for calm and do what it takes to find it. Eliminate hurry from your life.
• Protect yourself. Be smart about the times you are out and with whom you are with. Report in to people so they know where you are.
• Communicate. Don’t hold things in. Share with key people where you are staying, contact info, and itinerary. Leave a will and power of attorney. Build your tribe/community with intentionality.

Tackling the Primary Aspects Causing Permanxiety in the Life of a Global Citizen

Let’s take a look at some of the thoughts that enter the mind and cause worry, stress and ultimately what we are referring to as permanxiety.

Top ten worries in the life of the globally mobile:

• How do I contain the risk of infectious diseases or unsafe drinking water?
• What if local healthcare isn’t at adequate levels and it’s hard to get essential medications or treatments?
• How likely are natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes or floods and will I get any warning?
• How will I know how to react to a terrorist attack or natural disaster, and what if I can’t be found after it?
• Will it be difficult to get to the hospital, and will anyone know that I’m there?
• What about a job loss/income drop to an unsustainable level?
• How can I avoid cultural no-nos/taboos?
• My accommodation may get broken into or robbed on the street or at the ATM.
• Credit card or mobile phone cloning and insecure Wi-Fi may put me at risk.
• I’m not sure if I’m prepared for the unknowns.

Living the cross-border lifestyle isn’t easy. Insured Nomads is here for you and can recommend service providers, counsellors, life coaches and therapists. Our advisors and team can help you get a program in place for healthy living so that you can win over permanxiety. Click the link above to schedule a call, and get our app: Global Nomad Guide to gain helpful resources.

Do not give in to fear and anxiety in any place. We speak confidence, hope and victory into your life right now. Peace and strength to you.

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About Insured Nomads   

Insured Nomads is the first to take an integrated traveltech, fintech and insurtech solution to the world for remote workers, globally distributed teams, expats, and travelers. Their purpose is to make travel as safe and smart as staying at home. They do this by providing health insurance with exceptional medical benefits in tandem with wellbeing, safety, security, and advanced tech-enabled solutions for ease of payment for healthcare, emergency response and evacuation. Insured Nomads is available through affinity relationships, direct, embedded and through select brokers and partners for groups and individuals. 

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Information on integration, collaboration and partnership contact Brett Estep: brett@insurednomads.com

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When researching destinations and travel, Try Peanut - a free google chrome extension. It automatically displays travel requirements, visa rules and more on booking.com, expedia & google flights.