(no subject)

[psipsy]

If all goes well, next year I'll have a minimum of 4 weeks of vacation time to work with; 5 if I use my voluntary reserve. After overhead items (such as Otakon, plant shutdown, weather), it'll be more like 3-4 weeks which is a good bit of time anyway. That can make for a road trip above and beyond what I've done before, or some significant international travel, or I could use it for Project Fair Heaven (if that ever proceeds). Or a combination of all three.

At work there are contractors who often bounce around the entire country, with one job often thousands of miles away from the one before. If I mention plane travel to them, they often groan in disgust and roll their eyes back. That's because they're always in and out of airports and they spend a lot of time in the air. I don't do that all the time, so the novelty is still fresh to me. (Of course, if I have a choice between flying somewhere or driving, I much prefer driving, as I acknowledge the hassles of flying. But in the case of most international travel, it's the only realistic option.)

If I mention going on a road trip to someone who drives for a living, I can expect the same reaction. The difference is that I'm able to do so at my own pace with no deadlines or mandatory destinations or such. And there's usually more than a year between such events for me.

There are a bunch of places I'd like to visit. As an anime fan, Japan is mandatory. I'd like to visit Italy (as well as much of mainland Europe). I'd like to make a return trip to Ireland. So I guess I should renew my passport before it expires.

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Albania is nice!

[psipsy.livejournal.com]

I'll add that to the list!

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

Passports are good for something like 10 years, but you can still get the renewal fee if you renew within 5 years after expiry.

I just wonder if you get to keep your old one, or if you have to fully surrender it. Scan in your stamps just in case!

[psipsy.livejournal.com]

Yep, looking into that. The reason why I'm planning to renew it soon is because many countries (including those in the EU) won't let in people with less than 6 months before expiration, which for me is in June. While there's no guarantee I would do such travel in the next 8 months, I would at least like to make sure I have that done and taken care of. Plus it's a great form of ID, and I've used it as such.

Renewing is simpler than the initial application. I mail in my old one along with the form, new picture, and money, then the State Dept. mails me a new one along with my old one. If it's expired more than 5 years, then I'd have to start all over again. That said, better check the date on yours.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

Heh, Ron once tried to use it as a sole means of ID to get a job, and they were like, "um, we need two forms." "But this serves as both proof of my identity and my citizenship." "No, we need two forms." "No, look - ONE from column A or TWO from column B. The passport is in column A." "Could we just see your driver's license too?" *facepalm*

We got our just before our Ireland trip in '03...we've just been delaying because we didn't know if we'd get our old booklets back. Knowing that we do is awesome. :) Thanks!!!

[psipsy.livejournal.com]

Probably because he went to a place that hires people that generally don't have passports and wouldn't know what one looks like.

Before I started reading up on the renewal process, I kinda figured they sent the old ones back, especially since I found 8 of them while going through Gil's stuff.