Charlatan

I was reading an article the other day that many people in the US do not have a passport. As someone who not only lives abroad but travels Internationally, I find it odd to *not* have a passport.

I can understand that the US is a big place and many who live there simply feel no need to travel beyond its vast borders (or cannot afford to... which is more likely the cause).

I got my first Passport back in 1983 when I took a March break trip to Paris with my French teacher. It was a big deal for me at the time as I saw a Passport as a passport to the world (a bit of a romantic view I suppose).

How about you? Do you have a Passport? If not, why not? If you do, when did you get your first one and why?

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Amaras

Well, I'm Canadian, and yes, I have a passport. I'm pretty sure the first one I got was at 15 when I travelled to
England. I say pretty sure, as back then you might have been able to travel on alternate documents.
I know I got one at 22 for sure. I've needed it for travel, both personal and professional.

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SabrinaFair

I got my first passport at 16, when I traveled internationally for the first time, and have had a current one ever since. I wish it had more stamps in it, but I have one....I'm planning on taking a VERY extended vacation next summer after I take the bar exam, so maybe I'll add some stamps then.

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Baraka_Guru

I'm a Canadian and I don't have a passport, and I'm in my early thirties.

I can barely afford travel within my province, let alone outside of the country. Though I have been from Toronto to Vancouver area a few times. But even then I didn't bear anywhere near my share of the expenses.

It's not that I don't want to travel; it's that I don't have the resources. Besides, I want to see my own country first. It will be a while before I leave it to see other places.

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CinnamonGirl

I had one...but I lost it. I only had Portuguese stamps in it, but they were stamps, damn it!

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grumpyolddude

Got one. Haven't used it, yet. Hope to soon!

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Tully Mars

Yes, I've had one since I was about 25. Prior to that I could simply use my military ID most places I wanted/needed to go. Once I got out of the Navy I had to get one to travel. I have about 9 years left on my second 15 yr passport. My first passport was full of stamps, this one's not so much. Seems like they don't stamp them as much as they use to. Now every where scans them in and you're off.

I'll never stop traveling. Maybe someday when my legs won't hold me up any longer. To me people who don't get out and see the world are missing out big time. But different strokes for different folks I guess.

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Cynthetiq

I use it.... have had one since I was 5.

I feel nekkid without it.

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inBOIL

I got my first one at 12, but I only used it once. I'm on my second one, which I have only used once. I need to get out of the country more.

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genuinegirly

I have a passport. It expires in 2010.
It was a bit of a hassle to get my passport - I had to get photographs taken, then stand in line for two hours at a special post office 30 miles out of my way. I can understand why not many Americans would want to deal with the hassle.

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Derwood

yep. needed it twice in the past year

BadNick

I've had a passport for about 30 years so its been renewed a couple times. My current one expires in 2012. I got my first one when I travelled to France back in the '70's.

Randerolf

I don't have a passport -- the police in Beijing have it, so I can get a residence permit.

Back in 2002, I got a passport, but was working my way through school and didn't have time or money to travel. Now, I'm realizing that dream post graduation. It's important to get a different perspective via travel.

ketch90

I do.... Got it two years ago for a HS trip to England with the chorale... It was amazing.

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Bear Cub

Don't have one, never needed it, but planning on getting one since I have to go for the photos anyways for my TX CC permit. I'll probably be working overseas within a few years anyways.

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sadistikdreams

I actually have a multipass, for my trip to Floston Paradise.

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Willravel

I'm American and I absolutely have a passport. I'm not out of the country as often as I like, but I feel it's wise to have the option.

mrklixx

I have several. The one I use depends on the country, and the target.

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anti fishstick

i've had a passport since i was 3

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Dixy

My husband keeps on asking me to get one for me and the kids. I am going to..have been for the last two years..procrastination is a bitch

lostgirl

Yes, I just got it this year for so I could go to Europe. They only stamped us when we got to Holland, not in Germany or Belgium.

Reese

You made Coke come out my nose.... The drink, not the powder.

Leelu Dallas, Muli-pass!

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jewels

Just got mine two weeks ago for a trip to one of the Islands coming up in February. (Can you believe it only took ten days from the date of application? I was shocked!)

I had one years ago when my ex and I spent a couple of weeks in Colombia, but it was well beyond expiration.

If I were in a better position, I'd get 'em for my kids, too.

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dogzilla

My wife and I got passports about 15 years ago, thinking we would travel out of the US a bit. We used them a few times since then for vacation travel. I also had to travel to the UK once for work, so my company paid for the renewal of mine.

Reese

I seem to have forgotten to reply to the post.

No, I don't have a Passport. I am a simple man from Kentucky. I briefly and not very seriously considered taking a construction job in Iraq which would have required one but then realized if I wanted to get shot at I could walk around my backyard during deer season. I don't think I'll ever need a passport. I'm just not the type of person that needs to go places. I'm happy where I'm at.

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abaya

I have always had at least one passport since I was about 1 or 2 years old, and have traveled internationally regularly since then. I have had 2 passports since I was 22 and became a dual citizen of Iceland. I could get a 3rd from Lebanon, if I wanted...

I can't imagine life without passports. They are hands-down the most important documents in my life, and one of them gets used at least once a year. I don't have a whole lot of stamps though, since I tend to use my Icelandic one when traveling in Europe (Schengen Zone)... but I have stamps from Lebanon and African countries, which is kind of fun.

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highthief

I have two - a Canadian and a British. At least one is always up to date.

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lotsofmagnets

had one since i was 2 years old. there wasa period between 1997 and 2007 where i didn´t have a valid one but now i have 2 (eu citizenship comes in VERY handy...)

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physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

shoegirl

I got mine for a trip to Europe a couple years ago. Similar to you, they only stamped be in Belgium and England, not France.

abaya

Yes it does, but don't remind my husband of that fact, now that we're abandoning our efforts to get him an EEA passport.
-----Added 30/10/2008 at 07 : 14 : 58-----
That's because of the Schengen Zone. England is not in Schengen, but France and Belgium are. Once you enter Schengen, you don't get any stamps until you exit the zone--no matter how many borders you cross.

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PonyPotato

I've had a passport since I was a baby and my parents took me back to Wales to visit family when I was just a year old.

The one I have now has only been used once since I got it renewed - visiting Wales and England when I was 17.

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lotsofmagnets

meh, will he need an eea passport in the us anyway?

__________________
mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

abaya

Not IN the US (he'll get an American passport in 3 years), but it would be helpful for when he travels to Europe in the next few years, or most particularly if we ever decide to move back to Europe and live in France, etc. But then again, since I have an EEA passport, he should be okay getting permits through me. It will just be a little more paperwork (if it were any more trouble than that, we would have stayed on in Iceland another 2 years).

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

lotsofmagnets

i guess you could just go through the motions there. but then i´d think it would be only really worth it for the really long term as if you lived in a schengen country then getting around inside europe will not be a problem.

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mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

abaya

Right. Which we are not even sure we will do. Believe me, if getting my Icelandic passport had required 3.5 years of residence in Iceland (or god forbid, 7 if you're not married to an Icelander!), there is no way in hell that I would have lived here that long. I only got the passport because it was relatively convenient... I was here for 9 months and got it through my father's citizenship.

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

Poppinjay

We've talked about it for a few years. It would make the job application process easier. Thanks to 9/11, in the US you need multiple forms of ID to finish an app, or a passport.

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BadNick

A couple years ago I had let my passport expire and needed to get one quickly for an unexpected business trip to Belgium, which I didn't want to postpone due to their excellent beers. So I went to the U.S. Custom House in downtown Philadelphia where the passport agency is and I had a passport in about 6 hours. I applied, got pics across the street, gave them the paperwork, had lunch and a couple beers, went back and had it in hand. Such expedited service costs more but is available.

The_Jazz

American and had one since 2000. Gotta make sure I keep it when it renews because of the border stamps. China and Mongolia are pretty neat. Russia and France not so much.

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m0rpheus

I used to have one but it's long since expired. I haven't been on vacation anywhere but the cottage (which is really my favorite place to just go and relax) in a long time. Sounds like I'm going to have to get one again soon as some friends are planning a wedding down in Cuba next year sometime and more than likely I'm heading down for it.

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new man

Go one at 15 when going on a Caribbean cruise with the family (didn't need one at time, just in case). Got new one this summer before we went to Cabo San Lucas in October.