Author: Patrick Chong
Source: ezinearticles.com
What!? I can’t voluntarily roll down a hill at break-neck speeds in an enormous ball and expect my cheap travel insurance to pay for my injuries? Absolute madness! While you may think Zorbing is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, it’s actually a rather bizarre idea when you think about it.
Zorbing is the latest craze in extreme sports, and is rapidly becoming a popular activity for tourists and holidaymakers in search of a bit of fun. It involves rolling and bouncing down a hill in an enormous inflatable ball, causing adrenaline rushes and excitement for the rider. While it is largely a safe activity, it may be worth checking the fine print on your holiday insurance, as some companies may have reservations about covering such activities. Perhaps one can’t really expect cheap travel insurance to cover voluntarily hurling oneself down a hill!
The Case of the Fractured Back
Perhaps the Australian journalist Rebekah Meltzer should have considered holiday insurance before she set off barreling down a hill. She was unfortunate enough to bounce off a hay-encased post on her downward journey. Her ride turned into something of a flight, as her Zorb became airborne, coming down with a thud after a short air trip.
Unluckily for Meltzer, her flight resulted in a fractured back. She was admitted into hospital later that evening, and remained there for a few days. It is highly unlikely that cheap travel insurance, or even more expensive travel insurance for that matter, would feel particularly inclined to cover any costs incurred as a result of this unwanted little flight.
An Unlikely but Deadly Scenario
It must be iterated that Zorbing is a fairly safe sport, and travel insurance companies are just being cautious by not covering it in standard holiday insurance policies. But the fact remains that you are essentially hurling yourself head-first down a hill in a plastic bubble, which makes most insurance brokers a little nervous to say the least.
And dreadful scenarios do happen. A Czech teacher and pupil made sad Zorbing history in a fateful accident. After receiving the necessary precautionary training, the pair set off on their bubble ride. A safety net was in place to catch them at the bottom of the hill, and all seemed to be going well with safety measures in place. But the net burst on impact, and the Zorb rolled on. Sadly, the teacher was killed and the pupil seriously injured.
Of course, taking out a travel insurance policy to cover this extreme sport would not have saved the teacher, but it would help alleviate some of the resultant costs for the teacher’s family and for the injured pupil.
Three Irishmen in a Hydro-Zorb
Hydro-Zorbing takes this sport to yet another level. It involves a couple of bucketfuls of water being emptied into the Zorb with you, where you slip and side in the water as the Zorb rolls around you. Three young Irishmen were after a bit of fun, and decided to try out the experience on their holiday. But unfortunately the unlikely did happen, and their cheap travel insurance policy probably wasn’t convinced that their actions fell within the realm of reasonable holiday activities.
One young man’s foot pierced through a weak point in the plastic, and he slipped into the outer part of the Zorb. He suffered cuts to his face, a black eye, and had to endure several collisions with his friends. While this was certainly an unlucky encounter, but if you’re planning to attempt Zorbing on your next trip away, you might want to consider upgrading your travel insurance policy to cover it.r
Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey’s Travel. Their commercial travel insurance website, Insuremore, offers cheap travel insurance for families, couples and singles with a quick and easy online claims feature.