Passports

When I was in college, I read a newspaper article which indicated that a small proportion of US citizens possess passports. I forget what the fraction was, but it was something like one in three or one in six or something similar. I took that article to be an unfortunate commentary on the provincialism of most Americans as well as myself. I had then and have now great aspirations, and that includes travel. There are many places I want to see, and I have crossed few off the list. Getting the rest necessitated a passport.

I would rather that passports were not necessary for international travel. They feel somewhat like an abrogation of freedom. Nonetheless, they are required by law, so late in 2005, I went to the nearest post office to get one. I was told that I didn't have the proper documents. I argued a little, but postal employees don't give in. I went home, and set about getting the necessary documents. That took a little while. In time though, I have everything I needed. It just remained to get a picture taken, then to go back to the post office.