BY WTVM, GA

Carl Washburn loves traveling with his family and has piles of pictures to show the good times.

And he always buys travel insurance, just in case.

"When we look at the amount of money we're investing in the vacation, it's a concern that we don't waste that money," says Washburn.

About 30% of Americans agree with Carl and purchase protection for peace of mind.

Peter Evans is with Insure My Trip.com, a travel insurance comparison site. He says policies have come a long way.

Making them more inviting, especially for people who don't usually buy.

"These policies have changed to better help the consumer and to protect the consumer while they're traveling," says Evans.

For example, in the past, if your destination was hit by a storm, and you decided not got go

even though your plane or cruise ship could get there, you lost your money.

"They now have destination made uninhabitable. these policies now provide coverage for that."

Another new feature ...say your boss throws a last-minute meeting or project your way and you have to postpone your trip.

"Some of these companies will now extend to cover that as well. whereas before they wouldn't provide coverage for a business reason," says Evans.

And some companies even offer a "for any reason" option which allows you to cancel for, you guessed it, any reason... But it's pricey.

"They cover up to 75% of your actual trip cost and the actual premiums for those are 40-50% higher than what you would normally pay," says Evans.

If you're an adventurer and want to go swimming with sharks or sky diving, it used to be you couldn't get medical care or evacuation coverage as part of your travel insurance policy.

"Now you have coverage in case you get injured," says Evans.

Carl says the beach is as adventurous as he wants to get, but he likes knowing he's covered his bases.

"It's not something you can get back if nothing bad happens, but its worth it."

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