Kate Goggin

It’s been a fun week and Backpack Kids has been well received in the international travel community.  There is no other app like it at the moment, and as far as I have seen, there is no other internet resource like it either.

One glance at the headlines with the Lynn volunteer students, the injured from the Mumbai bombings, or the tsunami survivors, and you’ll understand how important it is to plan for unexpected emergencies when traveling internationally. This is especially true for the kids in those instances who were traveling without their parents. I learned this first-hand when my own son was injured while teaching English as a second language in South Korea. That experience coupled with my background at the State Department and additional research led to the creation of Backpack Kids.

Thanks to Judy Rickatson for her review of Backpack Kids below. Folks in the international travel industry understand the importance of this new tool and I hope together we can help more parents, teachers and volunteer leaders plan safer trips for American kids. If you would like to review Backpack Kids, please shoot me an email – kate@kategoggin.com.

Kate, this sounds like a really worthwhile app. I met loads of expats in Dubai who did not have what I considered “proper” health insurance. Many told me they would just fly home if anything serious happened. As you so rightly point out, they weren’t thinking about a situation where they might be medically unfit to fly or the cost of a medevac situation. I hope your message gets through to those who need to hear it.

Judy Rickatson, Expatriation Social Media Volunteer
Families in Global Transition Conference being held in Houston, TX, March 4 through 6, 2010.