My mom and I had a long talk about death when I first started traveling. Not only the potential for my death but what my reaction would be to deaths of people I know - i.e. would I return or not.
The consensus was that odds are good that I will die relatively young and somewhere far away from the US, possibly before my mom. She wasn't happy about that, but she's resigned to it. Accordingly, she has a file with all my financial and personal info in it so she can manage things should the worst happen.
The second agreement was that, with the exception of her death an depending on my location at the time, I would very likely not return to the US in the event of the death of a friend or loved one. I'm not a big believer in funerals and wakes anyway and would rather mourn in private in my own way.
Since I started traveling full-time, there has been two deaths. The first was a cousin who was only 2 years older than me (I was 36 at the time) and one of my closest friends when I was young. It was a complete shock and the news was devastating. Fortunately, I happened to be in the US at the time so I was able to attend the visitation, honor ceremony (he was a fire fighter who died in the line of duty) and funeral. The second death was an elderly uncle who had been very sick for years who died accidentally but peacefully. I was traveling at the time and did not return as we had already said our goodbyes.
Anyway, the point of this rambling post is that you should discuss death with your family before any long trip. Not only what do to in the case of your death but what you'll do if someone at home dies. It's better to have plans and expectations in place than to be in the middle of a trip and be freaked out and scrambling to decide what to do.
