Have you gotten one of the new US passport cards yet? If you have one, and you are driving across an international bridge into Mexico or Canada, border officials want you to take that card out of your wallet and “wave it in the air like you just don’t care” before you get to the inspection booth. US passport card
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At 5,525 miles long, the US/Canadian border is the longest border in the world. Not all of that border is paved-some is mountain wilderness, some of it empty prairie, and some of the border runs along the Great Lakes. If you are crossing from Canada into the United States at a border crossing in a populated area, you need a US passport, passport card or another document that's compliant with the World Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). For more details, see Do…
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Forget those fluffy marshmallow chicks and those atrocious egg-shaped jelly beans (especially the licorice-flavored ones!) When it comes to Easter candy, chocolate is where it's at. If you're looking for something to do this Easter holiday, why grab a fast passport and enjoy the world's best chocolate, right from the source? The following destinations are the creme de la creme of the chocolate world: Cadbury World, Birmingham, England The folks behind both Cadbury creme eggs and a range of iconic…
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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. Two travel industry groups, the ASTA and the Interactive Travel Services Association, are urging the US Department of State to reconsider their plans to institute new, higher passport fees. The plans, which were announced last month by the Department of State, would increase passport fees for new passports and for replacing lost or stolen passports from from…
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If you've ever wanted to visit Paris, why not go this spring? Yes, the whole "Paris in the springtime" thing is a bit of a cliche, but it really is one of the nicest seasons to visit. The weather is mild, not hot like it gets in the summer, and it's also less crowded. Even better, you're more likely to be able to find a good price on a hotel room if you go now than you would in the…
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When I was kid, I loved animals, so much that I managed to bug my parents into getting me that "Illustrated Wildlife Treasury" set that they used to advertise on TV. The set basically had a bunch of different cards with pictures of animals and facts about them. One of my favorite groups of animals in the set were the lemurs. Lemurs are a type of primate that lives only on the African island of Madagascar. They are more primitive…
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Birth certificates don't usually come with an expiration date, but if you were born in Puerto Rico, yours does: July 1st, 2010. After that date, all Puerto Rican birth certificates will be invalidated, per a law passed in Puerto Rico in January. The law was passed to address the fact that criminals have made a practice of stealing Puerto Rican birth certificates and selling them on the black market. In Puerto Rico, it used to be quite common to submit…
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Thinking of Tuscany, it's easy to get lost in a daydream of bright sunshine, fields of sunflowers, excellent wine and adorable quaint villages. However, if you visit Italy during the summer "high season," the reality is often quite different. Those adorable quaint village squares? Packed with tourists. Museums and monuments? Packed with tourists. Local vineyards? Packed with tourists. In today's New York Times, Danielle Pergament writes that a guest at her wedding, which took place in Tuscany in the summer,…
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Your US passport is one of your most valuable possessions, and you are probably very careful with it. However, no matter how careful we try to be, accidents happen. When it comes to passports, the most common causes of accidental damage are pets, toddlers, washing machines and for frequent travelers, normal wear and tear. Whether your dog chewed it or you accidentally sent it through the spin cycle, you should never try to travel with a damaged passport. Any damage…
