I don’t understand people who don’t have passports

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So .... you don't understand poverty. Got it.

I had to buy a passport for a destination wedding for my sibling. At the time I was on food stamps and out of work. The pressure of it was so great that I couldn't enjoy myself at the wedding.

If you're paying for my international vacations, then YES, I will cover the cost of the passport. But until then, shut up.

Wow- hell of an attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After my passport expired, I had no interest in renewing it. I no longer want to travel outside the US any more, certainly not to *hole countries our great president has declared them to be.

I have seen all of Europe and Asia I ever want to see. I would not travel to Africa even if given a free trip, neither S. America or Latin America, heck, not even south Texas for that matter.

I'm done. If I am itching to see a place I'll go to Google maps and take a virtual tour to see old buildings and cobbled streets, tiny crappy cars squeezing between run down buildings, and other things.

I can save myself the hassle of kicking my heels at airports, waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, checking in and out of hotels or Gasthauses, and the general hassle and inconvenience of it all.

No more travel for me. It is not a money issue, it is a "I have better things to do with my time than look at stuff over there." If I want to be treated like a money bag, I'll watch an infomercial to get the same experience.
That seems all tourists are these days, something to take as much money from all the while smiling and wishing you a pleasant trip.

Done!

Glad you’ll be staying home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So .... you don't understand poverty. Got it.

I had to buy a passport for a destination wedding for my sibling. At the time I was on food stamps and out of work. The pressure of it was so great that I couldn't enjoy myself at the wedding.

If you're paying for my international vacations, then YES, I will cover the cost of the passport. But until then, shut up.

Wow- hell of an attitude.

NP here. What’s the problem, PP?

Can’t tell if OP is a troll or what, but if she’s not...she’s really, really dumb. Like, embarrassingly so.

[Anonymous]

Np here, and I’m surprised by many replies. Of course many can’t afford. I’m more interested in people who grew up umc, with parents and siblings who traveled, yet have never had a passport. Lack of curiosity about other cultures and places is strange to me...especially if you have the means!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You sound terribly sheltered, OP. Grow up.

And entitled. Even relatively recently, people I grew up around, middle-class/UMC, some wealthy, vacationed nearby. I grew up in the Boston area in the 1970s/80s, and everyone went to the Cape or Maine for a week to a month. The Vineyard for the summer if they were wealthier. That was 85%+. We traveled internationally because my parents' came from another country, and we visited grandparents every other summer. We were the exception.

+1 I grew up in an affluent LA suburb and it was very unusual for a classmate to take a vacation outside the US. My parents never took us outside the US, my first trip abroad was study abroad in college.

fyi, about 40% of American adults have a passport and only about a quarter have traveled outside the US in the past 3 years.

What point are you trying to make?

That Op is mind bogglingly ignorant and sheltered.

It's weird not to have a passport. I'm not super rich, just a nurse. I can work ONE day to pay what passports for my family of four costs. ONE day every five years!!
If people are that cheap or weird, I feel bad for them.
Stay in school people!

You make $520/day, and you don't think you're particularly rich??? That's $130K

I work 2 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After my passport expired, I had no interest in renewing it. I no longer want to travel outside the US any more, certainly not to *hole countries our great president has declared them to be.

I have seen all of Europe and Asia I ever want to see. I would not travel to Africa even if given a free trip, neither S. America or Latin America, heck, not even south Texas for that matter.

I'm done. If I am itching to see a place I'll go to Google maps and take a virtual tour to see old buildings and cobbled streets, tiny crappy cars squeezing between run down buildings, and other things.

I can save myself the hassle of kicking my heels at airports, waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, checking in and out of hotels or Gasthauses, and the general hassle and inconvenience of it all.

No more travel for me. It is not a money issue, it is a "I have better things to do with my time than look at stuff over there." If I want to be treated like a money bag, I'll watch an infomercial to get the same experience.
That seems all tourists are these days, something to take as much money from all the while smiling and wishing you a pleasant trip.

Done!

Glad you’ll be staying home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we had them for our kids. We missed out on a trip last year because it was less than 2 weeks out. They're just too expensive to pay for every 5 years for kids. That means I'd need to pay 4x ($115 x4= $460) for their passports before they're 18 and can get the 10 year passport. I'm sure when they're teens they'll come with us more, but as a baby and a toddler we don't take them with us overseas.

Heads up that you can expedite and super expedite passports for kids and could have made the trip trip. Although it adds on the $$$$. The PITA is that both parents have to take the kids to the appointment. But there are post offices with walking in hours. And when we had to get our kids passports at the last minute (and renew mine), and we’re both work, with kids in school, we were able to do it to the Alexandria public library on a Sunday without an appointment. We expedited, but not the super expedited. DS and I had ours back in about 2 weeks. DD would have, except we transposed her SSN and had to send in follow up paperwork.

Mostly, be aware of the Alexandria library, because it was the only place we found in the DMV with weekend hours. And kept both parents from missing work and both kids from missing school.

PP here. That's another thing. Both parents have to be present to get a passport for a minor. We prefer to just leave our kids behind when we travel for now though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s leas than $100 and good for 10 years. Why don’t people just get them? Gives you so many more travel options

I guess you totally agree with Pelosi about "crumbs."

[Anonymous]

I think it's one of those things that people just don't think they need until they actually need it, kwim? So maybe the people you are thinking of haven't planned a trip to another country yet. But when/if they do, they will apply and get one. No big deal.

Are you talking about your parents or something?

You sound personally frustrated with someone in your OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After my passport expired, I had no interest in renewing it. I no longer want to travel outside the US any more, certainly not to *hole countries our great president has declared them to be.

I have seen all of Europe and Asia I ever want to see. I would not travel to Africa even if given a free trip, neither S. America or Latin America, heck, not even south Texas for that matter.

I'm done. If I am itching to see a place I'll go to Google maps and take a virtual tour to see old buildings and cobbled streets, tiny crappy cars squeezing between run down buildings, and other things.

I can save myself the hassle of kicking my heels at airports, waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, checking in and out of hotels or Gasthauses, and the general hassle and inconvenience of it all.

No more travel for me. It is not a money issue, it is a "I have better things to do with my time than look at stuff over there." If I want to be treated like a money bag, I'll watch an infomercial to get the same experience.
That seems all tourists are these days, something to take as much money from all the while smiling and wishing you a pleasant trip.

Done!

Glad you’ll be staying home.

Africa, South America etc are happy to not have to deal with a small minded person like you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After my passport expired, I had no interest in renewing it. I no longer want to travel outside the US any more, certainly not to *hole countries our great president has declared them to be.

I have seen all of Europe and Asia I ever want to see. I would not travel to Africa even if given a free trip, neither S. America or Latin America, heck, not even south Texas for that matter.

I'm done. If I am itching to see a place I'll go to Google maps and take a virtual tour to see old buildings and cobbled streets, tiny crappy cars squeezing between run down buildings, and other things.

I can save myself the hassle of kicking my heels at airports, waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, checking in and out of hotels or Gasthauses, and the general hassle and inconvenience of it all.

No more travel for me. It is not a money issue, it is a "I have better things to do with my time than look at stuff over there." If I want to be treated like a money bag, I'll watch an infomercial to get the same experience.
That seems all tourists are these days, something to take as much money from all the while smiling and wishing you a pleasant trip.

Done!

Glad you’ll be staying home.

Africa, South America etc are happy to not have to deal with a small minded person like you!

Good, you go to South America and Africa --have a nice trip! Enjoy the diarrhea, maybe bring home a parasite or two, something you can tell your grandkids about.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a passport, OP. It's not because I can't afford it, it's because I have no current plans to go out of the country. When and if I do, I will get one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Np here, and I’m surprised by many replies. Of course many can’t afford. I’m more interested in people who grew up umc, with parents and siblings who traveled, yet have never had a passport. Lack of curiosity about other cultures and places is strange to me...especially if you have the means!

I'm curious, but a terrible traveler (anxiety), so I limit long trips. Going any farther than western Europe (I did OK on that trip) appeals to my curiosity, but not to my mental well-being.

There are a number of reasons people choose not to travel.

[Anonymous]

I saw something on the news the other day OP that 43% of Americans had trouble with affording basic necessities. So, they won't be getting passports any time soon.

I grew up rather broke OP with 8 kids in the family. So, we never traveled. DH and I have achieved the American Dream despite going to "Dummy State U". We can afford to go anywhere we want. So, we savor and appreciate the chance to travel overseas as much as possible. Probably half of my siblings have never been out of the country. They simply can't afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:When I lived in Raleigh, NC a few years ago, I had to renew my passport and the Post Office offered passport renewal like once a month. Reflective of the demand down in that backwards red state, which is most of the US

We took a cousin who lives in an impoverished area of Ohio on a trip abroad with us. She got her passport with a next-day appointment at the local courthouse. Meanwhile around here, the soonest appointment at our nearest post office (after 10 phone calls to get them to answer the phone) was 6 weeks out. The demand just isn't there where she lives.

What are you taking about? You can get your passport renewed same day at the passport office in downtown DC, something they don’t have in rural Ohio. I have done it multiple times.

Yes, but there's a premium for that service. PP was indicating that demand is so low in Ohio she just happened to get a next day appointment. Doesn't mean the passport actually arrived the next day.

My brother lives in rural Maine. We happened to be visiting him when it was time to renew my 10yr DDs passport. I called up the courthouse in his town to inquire about getting an appointment. They asked me why would I need an appointment. I packed all of the necessary documents and we went on our visit. One morning we got up and strolled into the courthouse. In and out in under 15 min with no appointment. The passport arrived back at our house before the date of my DC based appointment would have occurred.

We did the same at Brentwood post office on a Saturday in May but the wait was 20 minutes for 3 family members. That included the photos which they take for you.