Ticking off the list ahead of that planned trip should include a careful check on insurance and the kind of cover that will withstand whatever emergency or unexpected illness that may crop up while we are abroad, writes Laura Slattery
Holidays are supposed to be relaxing. Our biggest health worries should be confined to plastering our blistered sightseers' feet, numbing the pain of jelly fish stings and working out which factor sun cream will stop us getting melanomas.
So while sudden, serious illnesses and injuries can alarm under any circumstances, our lack of local knowledge means suffering them abroad can pile on extra stress.
At least when we are at home, we know the system. We know the numbers to call, we know how to get to the A&E department of our nearest hospital. We also know that our private health insurance should cover much of the cost.
But what do we do when something unexpected happens overseas? How do we access healthcare services and how much, if anything, should we expect to pay for them?
The answer depends on our destination of choice and on how much preparation we have made for our much awaited time out.
Compiling the right combination of insurance policies and picking up something called the European Health Insurance Card before we step our flip-flopped feet on continental soil should be enough to ease our sense of panic if something does go wrong.
The most important mistake to avoid is to think that the private health insurance policies - sold by VHI, BUPA and new market entrant Vivas - are a substitute for travel insurance and can be relied upon to cover all medical expenses incurred on holiday. They can't.
These private companies give their members a maximum of €55,000-€100,000 toward the cost of emergency overseas healthcare. The hospital plans typically include access to a 24-hour medical telephone service staffed by English-speaking medical personnel and cover for emergency travel expenses in the event policyholders need to be airlifted back home.
Vivas also pays up to €1,000 toward the expenses of a companion who remains with the ill or injured policyholder and a further €1,000 if the companion travels with the policyholder while he or she is being repatriated.
These limits might seem generous, and they will be more than enough to cover most eventualities in many typical holiday destinations.
But the €65,000 maximum cover available under VHI's most popular policy - Plan B - and the €55,000 limit on BUPA's main product - Essential Plus - is mere 'hello' money should holidaymakers find themselves caught up in the American healthcare system.
As hospital care in the US can cost as much as €12,000 a day, the nominal overseas cover under the VHI, BUPA and Vivas plans could expire very quickly, leaving people without additional travel insurance exposed to massive healthcare bills at a time when their sole concern should be their failing health, not their diminishing wealth.
Buying an additional travel insurance policy is thus pretty crucial for travellers who are venturing beyond Europe and are, as insurance company advertising slogans put it, looking for peace of mind.
Travel policies cover emergency medical expenses up to a maximum of at least €2 million, with some policies, such as the one sold by Aer Lingus, providing cover up to a very reassuring €13 million. Some policies also give a cash benefit of around €20-€25 for each day spent in an overseas hospital, while cover for personal accidents is included up to limits of €25,000-€92,250.
As there is an element of emergency overseas medical expenses cover included in the main health plans, VHI, BUPA and Vivas members who do buy separate travel policies are effectively duplicating part of their cover.
"Why pay twice?" according to VHI, which launched its own annual multi-trip travel policy for members last February.
As its members had already paid for some overseas medical cover through their health plan premiums, VHI was able to offer a much cheaper travel policy than other travel insurance providers - its multi-trip policy for an adult up to the age of 65 costs €49, which at the time of its launch was over €20 cheaper than the next lowest rate.
Since then, much to VHI's annoyance, a number of insurance companies have copied its approach. Companies such as Blue Insurances, which sells through travel agents and tour operators, offer significantly cheaper rates to VHI and BUPA members on the basis that their medical expenses cover will only kick in once that provided by VHI and BUPA runs out. As a result, the cost of travel insurance has fallen.
So the organised, prudent traveller should have ticked both their health and their travel insurance policies off their packing checklist. But people who are holidaying or staying temporarily in Europe should also get their hands on another very important item: a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).
This card entitles the holder to immediate treatment under the state-funded healthcare system in any EU country, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The card, which is designed to make it easier to get treatment quickly, replaced the E111 form in June this year.
The card is for emergencies only: it is not a passport for so-called health tourists to travel abroad with the specific aim of getting healthcare through the public system and it does not cover treatment in a private setting.
Travellers who don't have the card are still entitled to medical care, but they may have to pay for it up front and claim for reimbursement at a later stage.
For longer stays abroad, the card is vital, as most multi-trip travel policies will only cover single trips up to a maximum of around 60 days. The card is also useful because some travel insurers won't charge an excess for medical expenses claims if policyholders first reduce the size of their healthcare bills by using either the EHIC or their private health cover.
But the card alone is not enough. Public healthcare systems vary from country to country, and few countries pay the full cost of healthcare for cardholders. And like the E111 form, the EHIC will not cover the cost of transporting ill or injured travellers back home.