What is a passport? Bear with me as I start at the beginning of planning for an international trip. If you’re a citizen of the world where they are commonplace, you’ll be wondering “Who doesn’t know THAT?” Well, many Americans for one thing.
The United States is a large, diverse country. People can and do live their entire lives without leaving its borders. There’s plenty to see and do here. There is, in fact, a large percentage of Americans that don’t travel internationally.
I’m not sure there is an official count on this. I’ve read all kinds of statistics but a conservative estimate seems to be that 75% of Americans don’t own a passport.
So for those Americans and any others who are unclear on this, let’s get really basic… what exactly is this document? (more…)