iPhone recovered, bounty paid, Trent and Alvin have moved on with their lives. Apart from the entertainment value provided by this installment of the True Detective series, there are serious travel lessons to be learned from Trent’s misadventure.
1. Points Advice: In Act I, Alvin questioned why Trent didn’t use his Club Carlson points to stay for free at a legitimate hotel. Trent opted to split the cost of a cheap motel with his wookiee friends and almost ended up paying the price for it. Alternatively, he could’ve had his own upscale, private room with accountable security.
2. Insurance Advice:
A) Travel insurance: I’ve never paid for travel insurance because I’m short-sighted when I try to save money. Luckily, I’ve yet to be robbed abroad (apart from taxis), suffer any medical emergency, or encounter any event which would make having such insurance useful. For those that aren’t as ignorant or are less risk loving, I highly recommend paying the nominal premium to cover your ass[ets] while traveling, especially abroad.
B) Phone Insurance: Everyone hates paying their cellphone bill because the prices aren’t competitive in comparison to overseas markets. Add in the cost of monthly insurance if your phone is lost, stolen, or broken along with the deductible of $200+ of filing a claim and it is no wonder that so many people chose to forego this add on.
That all changes the second bad luck comes knocking and you find yourself on the phone with Verizon pleading that you had purchased the insurance and the morons at the store didn’t add it to your plan.
C) Renter’s Insurance: This is the best and most overlooked insurance premium that everyone should have whether they travel or not. Depending on the state you reside in and the amount you are insuring, you can get comprehensive coverage for pretty cheap to cover your personal belongings in the event someone robs your Lake Angelus apartment. On top of that protection, there is also an electronics premium that interestingly covers electronics stolen even when you are not at home e.g., Trent’s iPhone.
3. Friend Advice: Choose wisely when you travel with friends, especially for prolonged periods outside of the country. Trent’s friends were oblivious to the fact that someone had surreptitiously entered their room with the intent to commit a robbery. If they weren’t the biggest of wookiees, I would have presumed they were in on the heist.
Figuring out who is a good travel companion can be tough. The simplest way to find out who is a worthy travel companion is to spend a weekend with him or her in Las Vegas. The pandemonium of a Vegas weekend quickly reveals who is resilient enough to handle any situation and who is trustworthy enough to keep it in the locker room. Friends are either made in Vegas or lost forever. This is a necessary screening that must be completed before a big trip.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed and learned from the funny story of Trent and Alvin. Tune in next time for more misadventures.
And remember…
