# Do you have a Passport? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584 "2014-09-05T14:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/42 "2014-09-06T23:19:09Z")
For my first overseas trip when I was 12 I was included on my mother’s passport. By the time I was 16 I had my own. I’ve had one continuously ever since. I’m up to my sixth one at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/43 "2014-09-07T00:03:46Z")
The fact this is even being asked says, I suspect, something very fundamental about some of the differences between the way Americans and Europeans see the world. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/44 "2014-09-07T00:07:56Z")
Had a valid one since I was 12. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/45 "2014-09-07T00:10:23Z")
Born in Panama in 1947, but am a USA citizen. Never pursued whatever Panama requires. My father worked as an engineer on the famous canal when it was the canal zone. I now reside in the Dominican Republic, but maintain my USA passport. The last time I had it renewed was in Panama, Took 4 hours! ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/46 "2014-09-07T00:24:41Z")
I have had a valid passport since I was an infant. My parents traveled abroad a lot when my siblings and I were kids so it was a necessity. Since becoming an adult, I have renewed my passport whenever it neared expiry as I do travel out of the country on occasion, and anyway, I like to get back to Japan every so often. I think I am on my seventh renewal. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/47 "2014-09-08T14:22:50Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > The fact this is even being asked says, I suspect, something very fundamental about some of the differences between the way Americans and Europeans see the world. It has to do with size too. For a US citizen to travel from border to border in their own country they would be traveling far enough to cover all of Europe. Other than travel to Canada and Mexico, which up until the last decade or so didn’t require a passport, travel to other countries is substantially more expensive from North America than it is for a typical European. Now I’m a Canadian and most of my childhood was spent on driving vacations across North America. I didn’t have a passport until I was an adult and I didn’t take my first trip to Europe until my daughter spent a year studying there. I believe in travel, I support seeing the world and I spent years telling my kids that they should travel while they were young and able to do so fairly cheaply but it is just a totally different reality when the entry point is a transoceanic flight. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/48 "2014-09-08T15:03:12Z")
I am not a citizen of the country I live in, so always having one is a rather good idea. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/49 "2014-09-08T15:18:19Z")
Yup, had one since 1981 when I first lived in Japan. Our children both have two passports, US and Taiwanese as well as permanent residency cards for Japan so we’re all set. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/50 "2014-09-08T16:53:21Z")
I have a well used US passport with quite a few visa and immigration stamps in it. Being born in Germany, I suppose I could get an EU passport if I wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/51 "2014-09-08T17:42:46Z")
I’ve had a passport for about forty years now (not the same one of course; I’ve got a new one when the old one expired). I can’t imagine not having one; even if one does not travel much, it can be a useful form of ID. ---
**Author:** ![Boomstick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@Boomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/52 "2014-09-08T18:17:55Z")
Yes I do. I got mine in 2010 in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/53 "2014-09-08T22:36:39Z")
Wow - that gave me a start - our usernames are so close I for a minute I thought my account had been hacked. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/54 "2014-09-08T22:52:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Wow - that gave me a start - our usernames are so close I for a minute I thought my account had been hacked. Sidebar: I noticed that, too, and had to do a double-take on the join date to get clear on that. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/55 "2014-09-08T23:13:15Z")
This is actually my second my first expired but has a lot of good stamps in it. I have 2 multi entry visas in my current one at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/56 "2014-09-08T23:48:10Z")
Nope. Mine expired nearly a decade ago, and is in my former married name to boot. I’ve nearly renewed it several times but keep stalling as it hasn’t been needed. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/57 "2014-09-08T23:55:48Z")
Yes; as an American residing abroad, it’s necessary. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/58 "2014-09-09T00:49:52Z")
I have mine and it’s good for a few more years. Got it replacing a lost one that still had three years to go. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/59 "2014-09-09T01:59:17Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Sidebar: I noticed that, too, and had to do a double-take on the join date to get clear on that. And now the poster is banned? Weird. Also, did not take long. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/60 "2014-09-09T03:59:36Z")
Interesting that it is so high. I have met very few people in real life who regularly leave the country often enough to need a passport. Then again, I’ve only been to nine states, and four of those were just on the way to somewhere or, in the case of Kansas, just to say I’d been there when I was in Kansas City anyways. (And I’m not sure about Louisiana, since I don’t remember what we did there. So it may be 8.) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584/61 "2014-09-09T04:17:23Z")
I’m on my 4th or 5th. I was on my mother’s as a small child, then got one in my early 20s for an overseas job and have had one since. 1) I like to travel. 2) I don’t anticipate a problem, but being queer and Jewish, I like to know that I can get out of whatever country I’m in, including my own, quickly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-passport/697584.md?page=4)