Well, for us, that’s $540 that we wouldn’t be able to spend on food, or toward our house payment, or on medical bills. Hold on to your hats here, because what I’m about to say might shock you- some people don’t have a ton of money, especially not for things like international travel. I know, I know! How will my children ever survive?

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

People are lazy and stupid

We spent several hundred dollars getting passports for ourselves and our children for a destination wedding for an immediate family member. Now we have passports . . . along with small children, limited vacation time due to school and work, and even more limited funds to do international travel. OP - where do you suggest we go now that we have our passports and where can we get the money to pay for an international trip?

I'm working on building up my emergency fund (I'm at $5K). Then I need to work on retirement and savings. After that, I'll start saving for an overseas trip and passports.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

Why would I get a passport if I have no immediate plans to travel abroad? It would be a waste of $500 -- about 1/4 the cost of our typical summer vacation.

Fair enough, I guess I find it insane that you have no plans to travel abroad. In the next five years????

Why would I? I don't have unlimited money and time. I travelled abroad a lot in my 20s and don't feel like it's a requirement. And if we decide to go it won't be last minute, and I'll have plenty of time to get passports.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

Why would I get a passport if I have no immediate plans to travel abroad? It would be a waste of $500 -- about 1/4 the cost of our typical summer vacation.

Fair enough, I guess I find it insane that you have no plans to travel abroad. In the next five years????

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

Why would I get a passport if I have no immediate plans to travel abroad? It would be a waste of $500 -- about 1/4 the cost of our typical summer vacation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What point are you trying to make?

That Op is mind bogglingly ignorant and sheltered.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What point are you trying to make?

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.

You can afford to go overseas but you can't afford a passport for your kids.
Why not get them passports and go somewhere cheaper, where you can take the kids??

Anonymous wrote:I have to renew my passport this year and I was floored at how expensive it was! I can afford the additional $140 but there are a lot of people who can’t.

My elderly mother has only ever been to 2 states and has never left the country. She's never flown in a plane and only went on the train for the first time last year. Her situation is incredibly common among poorer people in rural Appalachia, where I grew up. I feel bad for you, OP. Your life must be so shallow.