Don’t get the coronavirus, do get the travel insurance

Some of you might want to start smirking right now while muttering, “I knew it!”

Because, yes, after years of traveling all over the globe during a pandemic, I’m finally stuck in London due to the coronavirus.

At least that’s what I’m telling my boss.

No, seriously, I really am, but you do understand that it’s not MY coronavirus. Let me explain.

Two years ago, I had planned to take my niece to England for her high school graduation and 18th birthday. We were all very excited. Then — well, you can guess what happened next. The poor girl got no high school graduation nor 18th birthday party. I think maybe someone gave her a candle to blow out.

So this was her makeup trip. A week in England: Bath, to explore Jane Austen sites, and London, because, well, it’s London. We brought her older brother along for comic relief. And for company when I needed to nap, which was frequently.

We had fun traipsing around like tourists until Saturday, when my nephew tested positive for the coronavirus. We didn’t have a care in the world when we breezed into the test clinic Saturday in order to fly home on Virgin Atlantic on Sunday.

The U.S. requires a negative antigen test (the quick one) one day before you fly home.

You have to show it to the airline to get on the plane.

My niece and I tested negative, but the 26-yearold nephew did not. So we put the niece on the plane, I stayed in London with him and I called the insurance company.

It’s more important than ever, my friends, to buy travel insurance just for these occasions. Don’t buy it from the airline. Buy from InsureMyTrip.com or SquareMouth.com They will both give you numerous companies from which to compare and choose. It’s not difficult. Just follow the prompts on the screen. Or call them.

I started buying travel insurance about 15 years ago when I’d spent a fortune on plane fares for a trip to Argentina — and then broke my foot just before leaving. I didn’t think I’d enjoy hauling two little kids around Buenos Aires with only one functional foot, since I’m unable to hop like a rabbit. So I had to make many phone calls and beg like crazy and fax over doctor’s notes (remember fax machines?) to get my money back.

After that, I bought travel insurance for every trip out of the country.

You should, too. It definitely came in handy this time, because I discovered we had $3,000 in benefits for hotels, transportation and meals until we can fly home. The amount of benefits depends on the total cost of your trip.

Luckily, I had used frequent flyer miles to buy the plane tickets, so Virgin Atlantic allowed me to just move those award seats five days later, until Friday, for no extra cost. That was lucky, because otherwise last-minute tickets from London to

LAX would require me to sell a kidney.

With $3,000 to spend, we moved from our cheapo budget hotel to a nicer one in Covent Garden where they actually give you beds. This hotel room even has an espresso machine. Too bad I don’t know how to work it.

Before we came, I bought a fancy schmancy new turbo walker to get around London — the Rollerator Nitro. It’s red, so I used a Sharpie to paint black lady bug dots all over it. This device really came in handy, because we would just approach a museum and the guards at the front would go into gimp alert, letting us cut the long lines and showing us where the elevators, er, lifts were located. This was sweet. It was also nice to be able to sit down any time I wanted in the museums, with my built-in comfy seat. I was only disappointed that no one commented on the Grateful Dead dancing bears I glued on the front.

Just before we left, I got jabbed for the fourth time — my second booster shot — and so far that seems to have protected me from my nephew’s germs. Let’s hope when we go back to get more coronavirus tests, I still test negative.

After all, I have a wedding to attend. I can’t miss Curly Girl’s big day.