Do you have a passport?

[KJIM]

About a third of U.S. citizens have passports. Clearly, I am one of those people (I have two) but I don't see the big deal that the number is so low.

I had an argument with another former Peace Corps volunteer who felt that anyone who didn't have a passport was culturally inept or something. I don't see that. The U.S. is vast and there's plenty to discover here.

Europeans in particular seemed to be shocked at the low percentage, but unless an American lives close to a border, driving through three countries to grab a meal isn't an option.

Just wondered how the SportsJournalists.com sampling compares to the U.S. rate in general.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Do you work for the NSA?

 

[WriteThinking]

A passport is one of those things that you don't bother getting until if/when you actually need one.

I have one, that I've used, because I like to go on cruises on vacations, and because I sometimes need it for mission trips.

 

[RickStain]

I would rather vote "Yes, I have a passport card." It's good enough for me.

 

[FileNotFound]

I was 35 when I got my first passport. I managed to fill it completely full of stamps over the 10 years before I renewed it this year. Off to a slow start on Book No. 2, but I'm working on it.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

A passport is one of those things that you don't bother getting until if/when you actually need one.

I have one, that I've used, because I like to go on cruises on vacations.

This ...

 

[bydesign77]

I know too many people that never leave the state they live in, much less the country.

I've had a passport since I was 5.

 

[LongTimeListener]

In a good percentage of this country you are 1,000 miles from the nearest international border.

What's the necessity?

 

[YankeeFan]

Americans don't save money, don't value foreign travel, don't get a lot of vacation time, often live far from family, and often use their vacation time to spend holidays with far off family.

 

[imjustagirl]

Americans don't save money, don't value foreign travel, don't get a lot of vacation time, often live far from family, and often use their vacation time to spend holidays with far off family.

I just don't want to fly over water. I've been to Canada, but it was before you needed a passport. Other than that, yeah, my vacation time is spent going to see my getting-up-in-years parents.

 

[User 1019]

I have one, but I generally don't use it much because most of my foreign travel is for Army business ...

 

[Wenders]

Americans don't save money, don't value foreign travel, don't get a lot of vacation time, often live far from family, and often use their vacation time to spend holidays with far off family.

Plus, in Europe, a flight from country to country is really cheap. It's not $1,000 like it would be to fly from the US to an airport over there.

A few years ago, I had my purse stolen. I was a university student in a different state from where I was from and my wallet with my driver's license was stolen with the purse. I wrote my state to get a replacement ID and it took almost 2 months to get an actual ID. Until then, I carried my passport around with me so I could have proof of who I was on an official document. It's nice to have backup proof of exactly who I am.

 

[BTExpress]

In most nations your passport is your ID.

Here we delegate that responsibility to your . . . driver's license.

 

[I Should Coco]

I have one, but I live about 90 miles from Canada ...

... and have been there a grand total of once since I moved here in 2009.

Maybe we'll head north again this summer, for a weekend.

 

[Football_Bat]

I had one, but it expired. Do I have to present it when applying for a new one, if and when I do?

 

[Wenders]

I had one, but it expired. Do I have to present it when applying for a new one, if and when I do?

I renewed mine before it expired and I had to send it in with my application. It was later mailed back to me.

 

[Big Circus]

I had one, but it expired. Do I have to present it when applying for a new one, if and when I do?

I renewed mine before it expired and I had to send it in with my application. It was later mailed back to me.

Likewise when I renewed mine earlier this year.

 

[SFIND]

I'd like to go visit other countries (namely Italy, to see Rome and Vatican City), but there are way too many places I want to see in the U.S. first. I haven't been to over 30 states. I've never been to New York City or LA. Really I haven't seen much outside of the midwest where I live. I'll never travel outside the country unless I see more of my own. And I'll probably never as much of my own as I want.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I've traveled a lot. I've been to Europe six times. I covered the Sydney Olympics, which I think was the only time I went outside of North America for work.

I've been to five continents.

At this point in my life, travel has lost all appeal to me. I want to go to Australia again since I didn't get to experience it on any level at the Olympics. That whole time was a complete blur and I couldn't go early or stay late. Egypt is the only other place I want to go to, but I have no desire to travel to that region.

 

[RonClements]

I've traveled outside the U.S. just twice - unless you count strolling over to Tijuana from San Diego several times while I was in the Marine Corps - but both times I was in the Marines. I spent six months in Okinawa and a month in Greece (not as cool as it would sound). I didn't need a passport because we were on a military chartered plane and I've actually never had one. Although, being that my girlfriend loves to travel, that'll change in the near future.