Going on an ayahuasca retreat in Europe...will I be able to get travel insurance for the actual retreat?

[Sundiamondtree]

I'm about to book to go on a weekend ayahuasca retreat in Europe, run by a very reputable centre who has places in Netherlands and in Spain. In the Netherlands, these retreats/ceremonies recently lost their legal status, but they are tolerated. And the retreats are open, and upfront online about country location.

I would like to get travel insurance, in the event I am forced to cancel for illness etc - but will I be able to get it for the retreat cost? And if so, where and how to go about it?

I used to do a lot of drugs. I just no longer into drugs as a recreational thing, but i'm fully versed in a wide range of them.

And in what sense do you see this holiday where you take DMT as anything other than 'recreational'?

I hear all the views.

I guess, it's like me wondering at people who drink a lot socially and I just don't get it at all - because of the ill health, the negative effect. Or people who eat shit loads of unhealthy food. Same thing. Don't get it. And you can bleat on about hallucinations and all the adverse effects of ayahuasca, but honestly, if you drink regularly and for a long time, and eat processed foods, that's a ton of ill harm just there.

Obviously you'll all have your little responses to this sharpened and ready, so go for it because I don't have the need to come back to this thread.

You're an adult OP and can do what you like, but PP talking about risky behaviour r.e. insurance have a point.
They won't even insure perfectly healthy things like extreme sports. So why would they ensure the taking of drugs?
Even a weed brownie or two , while legal in Amsterdam can invalidate insurance.

If you're worried about cancellation costs or can't afford to pay medical bills in case of illness personally I wouldn't go, given that there's a risk of you getting ill. Surely you thought about this too and that's why you want insurance.

Oh nah I mean look. Ayahuasca is naff as hell and absolutely a weird ’pinnacle of gentrification/cultural appropriation’ vibe if you ask me, right up there with Burning Man. I know a bunch of people who’ve done it, one who went on some giant pilgrimage to some special shaman and came back with some videos the shaman had given them which were ‘inspirational’ quotes overlaid over photos of teddies. That amused us all no end, and I can’t say anyone seemed particularly enlightened but as with all drugs, if you got something from it and didn’t hurt anyone, then fine by me.

So OP, crack on if you’re into it, you’ve had your travel insurance question answered and I hope you find what you’re looking for.

ayahuasca breastfeeding lady though, words fail

I can assure you I've done far more extensive research than they have.

Then you would know of the people who have died after Ayahuasca ceremonies.
You would be aware of the risk of Serotonin Syndrome, if you are on antidepressants, or some other meds. You would be aware that a predisposition to psychosis or schizophrenia, currently dormant, may be set off. You would be aware some have an atypical response where depression is a result of taking Ayahuasca. You would be aware it is possible to have a stroke after Ayahuasca.

And you would be aware that insurance and psychedelic drug taking, no matter how sanitised and westernised, is an unlikely bed fellow.

Go ahead, take your chances. But your main supporter on this thread was a woman who breastfed her baby while on Ayahuasca.

Being called a "pearl-clutcher" for objecting to that is heinous.

There are also no reliable studies into the safety of chamomile tea during pregnancy either. In reality that means no one could get funding to research this because no pharmaceutical company could see a way of making money from it

Actually, AFAIK nobody does experiments on pregnant women, it is considered to be unethical.

Why so angry @NeverDropYourMooncup? Chill out dude!

I’m always fascinated by the lengths people will go to voluntarily part with large quantities of money.
For me this ranks high in the woo area of experiences. But then as the op is a self confessed ex druggy I suppose it’s just a very posh, expensive “trip”. You are just legitimising falling off the wagon.
I would assume it’s some sort of weird yoga camp if any of my friends mentioned it, I had no idea that these sort of retreats exist. But there again I found myself years ago so have never had to go searching for the answer.
Forgive my ignorance and disdain but after dealing with the aftermath of my son being spiked with a mildly hallucinogenic drug, 3-6am in A&E after he put his hand through a window because he thought someone was lurking outside, I’m not a big fan. Hallucinogenic drugs are not conducive to safe behaviour and no insurance company in their right mind would cover your “trip”.

🙄🤣

🤣🤣🤣

This is hilarious. If the OP wanted to, she could quite easily get hold of some DMT and do a bowl in her living room, no need for travel insurance. But I imagine that seems a little seedy, so better legitimise it and let somebody make a load of money off you at a retreat 🤣

I guess this drug tourism is for the same people who partook in poverty tourism when they were younger...the overprivileged

For all those comments about ayahuasca being a “medicine”. The wonderful thing about legal medicines is that they’ve been thoroughly scientifically tested on hundreds/thousands of people and regulated so that you know exactly what you are taking, how much, and what else is in the pill/tablet/infusion etc. She’ll probably be fine but the risks are there and the substance is both unknown and unpredictable.

All of this. It's childish the way 'pearl-clutcher' and 'Daily Mail reader' have been thrown around on this thread.

I'm a Guardian-reading academic, midwife, yoga teacher, doula and general all-round tediously crunchy liberal. I've taken all kinds of drugs in my life, got into all sorts of scrapes because of them. I have several friends who've been on ayahuasca retreats and I don't really have an issue with it (their stories have confirmed it's not for me personally but they can do what they like).

But the defensiveness and sneering from the too-cool-for-school, ooooh aren't we edgy posters on here is really...well, let's just say it's not very spiritual, is it?

My mum suffered chronic depression and psychosis for many years. I know all about the potential of psylocybin etc to help people like her - I've read studies, listened to Dr David Nutt on the topic etc. It's a fascinating area of research and I wish they had been able to help her before she died.

It's not the same as wandering into the forest with a 'shaman' and then hoping an insurance company will bail you out if it all goes tits up.

Y'all know that pharmaceutical medication is a leading cause of death globally?!

Plant medicine is exploding because it works, there are many an expert, in many fields, supporting the use of psychedelic medicines and similar.

Learning about, and sharing medicine, is not cultural appropriation.

And pharmaceutical medication saves lives every day. What kills people is bloody opioids, and the profit made from privatised medicine, favoured in the same countries that like to use "y'all".

'Plant medicine' I assume you mean digitalis, aspirin, nicotine, cocaine, alcohol, heroin... No? Because those are all derived from plants. As are many many poisons.

If you mean traditional medicines, when they work, they turn into pharmaceuticals. That's how medicine works. For example the amazing Youyou Tu (Nobel prize winner and all around awesome woman) who adapted TCM into effective anti-malarials. I took the TCM version years ago when I went to malarial areas. Because they had been studied, tested, and found to be effective with fewer side effects than Western anti-malarials.

We should encourage the proper development of traditional medicines. We should look at hallucinogens and other drugs which have been ignored by profit-seeking drug companies and puritanical governments. We should have a system that actually cares about health rather than profiting from illness.

That still doesn't mean it's a great idea to take a big hit of strong hallucinogens which haven't been assessed or tested and which are known to have side effects.

Living up to your username…

@Completleybonkers lovely when a username so aptly matches up with someone's posts.

you just need to have a quick look at the WHO website to know the leading causes of death around the world and no its not "pharmaceutical medication" - which isn't even a thing as pharmaceutical means medicinal drugs. death due to inappropriate use of pharmaceutical agents is not even in the top ten. please see attached image... this is from 2019.

So, I just had to come back and say - I went, I did it, and it was an amazing experience. It is a medicine, it was healing. It was nothing like recreational drugs, the staff and retreat were wonderful. I felt very safe.

It's not for everyone, but meeting so many people who have been helped by it - all of whom were sane, regular people - it's clearly for some.

What do you think it did for you, OP? I think the research on psychedelics for MH is really interesting.

It gave me a lot of insights - it's hard to explain how profound this is in an altered state. But the work begins now - taking what I learnt, making changes to myself, my life.

Thanks for the update, this is really interesting!

Thanks for coming back and updating and it’s brilliant that you had such a positive and profound experience. It’s definitely something I’d consider doing !

As someone who knows nothing about this, could you give an example of the kind of things you have decided to change?

What do you think was altered or healed in your brain, some kind of imbalance?

Would be good to hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak..