It has always been our very, very strong recommendation to take out travel insurance.
Some “soft adventure” companies have long made it mandatory; we do not want to be dictatorial, but our realistic point of view is that you never know what will happen, whether it’s for personal reasons or things happening in the world that make you change your travel plans. Therefore our very VERY strong recommendation is to get a travel insurance.
The optimal travel insurance is “Cancel For Any Reason”. It does mean literally that – because you had a bad week at work, or you broke a fingernail. But you must take this out very soon after paying your first deposit – between 7-21 days (policy dependent). Please be sure to read all the small print; policies can differ widely. It is more expensive than other options, but in our experience during the Covid pandemic to name an example, they were the policies that paid out in the end.