Oh wow. First of all, I think your mom is the greatest and yes, she’s mentioned you and your travel situation to me in an email last Monday. I was expecting to hear from you so I made sure to have all of your answers prepped for you.
As for your situation, you are in luck. If you purchase from Travelex, you actually have two choices that would help your situation. Some of our travel insurance plans have special upgrades you can add-on allowing you to customize your plan so it matches up with the type of traveling you're doing.
For your situation I would recommend an add-on specifically built for professionals which would cover you if you have to cancel for business related reasons. You would need to provide a notarized statement from your boss stating that your previously approved time off was revoked. The upgrade would also cover lost, stolen or damaged professional equipment while traveling. So if you need to work while away and something happens to your equipment you'd be covered for that.
Another option would be to purchase a higher level of travel insurance coverage; which would give you the option to add-on the Cancel for Any Reason upgrade; allowing you to cancel for literally any reason up to 2 days before the trip is supposed to begin. You'd have to purchase the upgrade at the same time that you purchase your trip insurance, and then you'd be covered in case you had to cancel.
So don’t sweat booking your trip. I certainly hope that you’re able to go and don’t get burned like that other guy in your office. Next time he’s booking, make sure to have him talk to us first. Now that he’s learned the hard way, I think he won’t need any prompting to protect himself the next time around.