James Joyce, the author of Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake, was one of Ireland’s most famous writers. He died in 1941, but someone had enough foresight to hold on to one of his old passports, which will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s later this month.
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You've been to Mexico. You've been to Canada. You have pictures of yourself standing in London with Big Ben in the background and holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. What now? If you want to add some unique stamps to your US passport, consider these 5 undiscovered destinations. While not technically secret, these countries are off the radar for most US travelers but definitely worth visiting. The Maldives: This remote chain of islands in the Indian Ocean…
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If you've always wanted to visit Cuba without breaking the law, you'd better get your passport application in now. Under President Obama, the US Treasury Department has begun to issue "people-to-people" licenses to travel companies, allowing them to take ordinary Americans on guided tours of the island. According to the New York Times, the government has been taking its sweet time when it comes to issuing the licenses, but nevertheless, eight tour operators have already been given the go-ahead. Tom…
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It's been over three months since Japan was wracked by devastating earthquakes and a massive tsunami. While the country's troubles have mostly faded from the headlines, they are far from over. In fact, more than 11,000 people are still stranded, with no place to call home. If you want to visit the country in person to help, Inside Japan has the tour for you (via Jaunted). The four-day package includes a trip to hard-hit Tohoku to work on disaster cleanup…
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Drug-fueled violence has been simmering over in certain parts of Mexico for well over a year now. The State Department has issued official travel warning after official travel warning to keep US citizens informed of the situation, most recently in April. With horror stories coming in from across the border on a semi-regular basis, many US citizens have decided that it might be more prudent to take a summer vacation elsewhere. It should be noted that only certain parts of…
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A passport mix-up at Seattle's Sea-Tac airport left a teenage girl searching for an emergency passport on Thursday, according to MSNBC.com. The teenager, Katie Cardinal, was traveling with a group that included her cousin, her grandmother and a family friend. Katie, her cousin and her grandmother stepped up to the ticket counter together and handed over their passports at the same time. What happened next was like something out of "The Twilight Zone." According to Rosalie, the grandmother: ""We gave…
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For more than 5 years, popular travel blogger Nomadic Matt has traveled the world almost nonstop. Unfortunately, passport mishaps can happen to anyone, even the most seasoned travel veterans. Earlier this month, disaster struck Nomadic Matt in the form of a lost passport. Within minutes of exiting a plane, he realized he'd left his passport behind. Unfortunately, a few minutes was all it took for the lost passport to vanish forever. Matt calls this "the worst thing that has happened…
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*The passport fees have recently changed. As of April 2nd, 2018, the passport acceptance fee has gone up from $25 to $35. Getting a passport has never been more essential for anyone who wants to travel outside of the US. Laws that became effective over the past few years have made passports necessary where they weren't before, including many trips to Mexico and Canada. Unfortunately, passport application fees have also never been more expensive. Last July, passport prices increased…
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Before you leave the country, it pays to check the back of your passport and make sure you have a few blank pages left. Those pages can fill up faster than you realize! A full passport might seem like an enviable problem to have, but what happens if you try to travel without any blank pages? It's tempting to think that you could make it work as long as the passport itself is still valid, but in most cases, you…
