When I was looking into insurance companies, I needed one that was willing to cover caravan liability. What kind of caravan? Why, a caravan of camels trekking across the Sahara Desert. I was getting a bit restless with the trip coming up in three weeks, but all I could do was look around to see what was available.

Finally, after weeks of searching, calling, and sinking into a little ball in the corner to cry, I found it. The Caravan Insurance NI company. Based of a smaller branch in North Ireland, the company had been dealing with odd travel arrangements like my own for quite some time. With only a week to spare before we set off on our journey, I informed my fellow travelers that everything was set to go as planned.

There were some conditions that the caravan insurance ni company wanted me to know. Due to the fact that we were traveling through the Sahara Desert, the were not liable for any deaths caused by our own group members, camels wandering off, members returning in a lunatic state, or any other kind of damage caused by our decision based on personal desire to travel. I agreed of course, since all I really wanted was the knowledge that I was insured for any damage that some odd wander might try to inflict on the caravan as it made its trek across the desert.

The Caravan Insurance NI was actually very pointed in making sure that I knew just what I was getting myself into, and what they could cover in the most dire circumstances. Sure, it was going to be a dangerous trip, but it would be the adventure of a lifetime for many of the people signed up to accompany me. The only thing I was a little worried about was my own expertise on the matter of group travels... and the desert. What was I getting myself into? Had the Caravan Insurance NI experienced similar situations when dealing with other people? Well, now was not the time to be questioning my decisions. It was time to begin my research on desert traveling, after all that's what the internet was created for, right?

Nothing could go terribly awry when all was said and done, especially with all the web searching I had done over the past couple of days... or could it?

(a few days later)

What had I gotten everyone into? We were trapped in the desert with no idea what in the world we were doing, no map, no sunscreen, and no enthusiasm for the desert scene pilled up around us...