Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 16:33     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
We don't have current passports because of money. There are four of us and we don't have the wealth to travel internationally much less for passports that will sit around, unused. There's a long list of stuff I don't spend money on.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 15:27     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
Anonymous wrote:
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


You could’ve renewed via US snail mail assuming you hadn’t lost it.


My bad - it wasn't a renewal it was a replacement because the chinese embassy mutilated a page rendering it "damaged". yes a straight renewal by mail is the right approach, but a replacement requires appointments which they offer infrequently in podunk places.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 15:17     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
Anonymous wrote:
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.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:23     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


We weren't in a rush (and it was an initial issuance) as we plan our trips well in advance to get cheap airfare. Just pointing out how around here, you have to wait weeks to get an appointment because of high demand, but not so elsewhere.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:21     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
You don't seem very well travelled or aware OP; having that passport hasn't done much for you.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:20     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
Anonymous wrote:
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.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:19     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
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.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:18     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
OP is a troll, no need to respond.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:13     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
I grew up near the border with Canada. We used to go to Canada regularly with birth certificate in hand. Most people I know in my hometown do not have passports because they can't afford them. These are people who would otherwise use them regularly.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:12     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
Anonymous wrote:
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


You could’ve renewed via US snail mail assuming you hadn’t lost it.


Np but dh had to renew his this month in person. Because it had been more than 15 years since issue date. He used his a lot, but let it lapse the last 5 years because we haven’t gone international recently.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:12     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
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.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:11     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
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


You could’ve renewed via US snail mail assuming you hadn’t lost it.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:10     Subject: Re:I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
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.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:06     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
Anonymous wrote:
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


Where did you get this number? They cost $140.


It's $145 or $110 to renew.
Anonymous
Post 05/29/2018 14:05     Subject: I don’t understand people who don’t have passports
It’s $110.

We haven’t been able to travel anywhere much. My last time internationally was in 1998. Yep. A good amount of domestic travel for family though. All of my travel budget has gone there.

I have an intl trip booked for July!