I am itching to travel. First, I canceled a planned trip to Jamaica in 2020. Then I celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary in 2021 without much fanfare. Now, I’m looking ahead to 2022. I’m done waiting! I decided we’re going on a trip, come hell or high water — or worse, COVID! So Aruba, here we come.

But how do we do this without worrying about COVID wreaking havoc on our plans? I plan to travel with my husband, 18-year-old daughter and another family with their two sons. So that’s a total of seven people that have to remain COVID-free before and during our trip. It’s nerve-wracking to think about what would happen if any of us came down with COVID during the trip. But there are things we can do to play it safer.

First of all, all of us have been vaccinated, and most of us also had booster shots. So we’re doing everything we can possibly do to protect ourselves medically. But, realistically, even though Aruba has a relatively low number of COVID cases, we could still contract the virus while on our trip and could use travel insurance to cover medical bills.

Our American Airlines plane tickets are protected if we have to reschedule our trip. As long as we booked Main Cabin or above, there are no change fees should we have to reschedule.

Since we are traveling in a group, we decided to rent a whole house instead of staying at a hotel. This is where things get tricky because the rental is nonrefundable. Now we enter the realm of travel insurance to protect our stay.

Some things I’ve found out:

Not all plans are created equal. Most plans cover things like lost luggage, hurricanes and weather, medical emergencies and missed connections, but I wanted to make sure we’re covered in the event anyone in our party tests positive before returning home and has to quarantine. Aruba has mandatory $15 COVID-19 Travel Insurance, which does cover some of the related costs if a guest tests positive. This insurance covers hospital costs, intensive care unit costs, transportation, doctor consultation, isolation costs up to $125/day and COVID-19 testing costs. What it does not cover is the cost of another guest staying in Aruba with the COVID-19-positive guest. Since I would not be comfortable abandoning my 18-year-old daughter in a foreign country if she tested positive, I would like to make sure I would be covered to stay with her. That’s where Travel Delay Coverage comes in.

Travel Delay Coverage can cover the cost of your accommodations and meals during quarantine if you or another person in your party contract the virus. If you are forced to stay beyond your return date due to a positive test, this coverage can be extended for five to 10 days.

Another upgrade for travel insurance is Cancel for Any Reason coverage. This upgrade offers the most protection in case we would have to cancel the trip for a reason other than one of us contracting COVID but increases the price of the insurance by 40–50 percent.

The website squaremouth.com makes it easy to compare different travel insurance plans to help figure out which offers the protection that makes you comfortable booking your trip.

— Tracey Cullen, art director