HomeRetirementThe View From UnretirementThe View From UnretirementMake this vital purchase before your next vacationJuly 9, 2026, 10:30 a.m. ETLots of things can go wrong when you’re traveling. Photo: Getty ImagesMidway through an eight-day vacation to Venice and the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy in May, I received a text from the wife of my 72-year-old sister, Robin, telling me to call. Before we’d left on our trip, I had visited Robin in a Philadelphia hospital, where she was dealing with complications from blood cancer, and she seemed to be improving. But her health had dramatically worsened and she was near death. We flew back to New Jersey the next morning and were able to see her before she passed away.