We all probably know that we need a passport to leave the country, enter another country, then return. It wasn’t all that long ago when those of us from the US who are older remember being able to travel Canada and Mexico without a passport. A simple driver’s license would suffice. Most of us know now, that’s no longer acceptable.
If you’re planning on traveling a lot out of the country, check the box that offers more pages in your passport (yep, you can do that). That way, you’ll have spare pages, which in some cases is important. We once were flying to another country and they said there weren’t enough pages in my passport (there were only 3 blank ones), so they (the Federal Government) had to add extra prior to traveling. Extra pages? Yep, they used to do that – see picture with binding sewn in.
Fortunately there was enough time to have that done. It did require relinquishing the passport to an official passport agency for them to sew in the pages. Before you get excited about adding pages to your passport, as of 2016 they no longer offer that service. Now you need to apply for a renewal passport if you happen to run out of pages.
Another situation to avoid? Some countries require 6 months or more before your passport expires or they won’t let you in. So you’ll want to make sure you have your new passport ready (also happened) well before you leave. Sometimes the US won’t even let you out if the date is too close, we had friends who had that happen.
Lesson learned? Check the number of pages available and the expiration date to make sure you have plenty of both to spare.
People Steal Passports
A lot of people may not realize that US passports can be very valuable in other countries. That’s why it’s imperative that you protect yours as best you can.
What you don’t want? Is to have your passport stolen or lost. Depending on where you are, this could prove be quite challenging.
Always have your passport in a safe place and know where it is whenever you travel in other countries.
Most advisors say to put your passport in a hotel safe and change the combination. Other advisors warn against the potential problems with hotel safes.
We travel with our own safe that can be strapped to something that cannot be moved. Like furniture or a permanent fixture. It does add weight though. So when you’re considering that as one of your Travel Accessories, you’ll want to factor that in.
Going to your nearest embassy to get a new one can be difficult depending on where you are in the country versus where your nearest open embassy is, and what day it is (they are lighter staffed over the weekends). Could be an all-around hassle that you don’t need and is normally avoidable. Plus, your country’s embassy could be hours away in travel time. You may even find yourself having to spend the night.
With everything in consideration, embassies are familiar with people losing their passports, so they should be able to assist through the process of obtaining a temporary one.
The Wrap Up
The biggest takeaway here? Passports require maintenance and protection.
Before you travel, stay aware of your expiration date and how many pages you have left.
While you’re traveling, do everything in your power to avoid losing your passport.