Passports

[AYHJA]

Hey guys,

I am going on maybe Wednesday to apply for a passport...To some of you that have experience in traveling abroad, are there any tips you want to share..? As far as I know, I have to apply at the circut clerks office here in Starkville...I'm going through the information on travel.state.gov, so I have that, but for those that travel internationally at all, let alone pretty frequently, leave tips..!

[Skinny Bastard]

I did mine at a post office that does double duty. It was no big deal. Just had my pictures with me ready to go, did the paper work, and weeks later it arrived.

The biggest tip I could give anyone is that if they expect to be traveling internationally, they should not wait until the last minute to get their passport. It can take a number of weeks before delivery (I think mine took close to 6).

[AYHJA]

Yeah, I certainly got the feeling that it would not be a walk in the park...

Also, there are these things called 'e-passports' now, I'm not sure how they work exactly, but I need to get this stuff out of the way...Thanks st4, I think you cross the ponds more than anyone else here, lol...

[Skinny Bastard]

I certainly had a banner year - but in these economies, I'm not expecting to do any travel this year.... :(

[Highlander65]

Use a credit card to buy things, or go to the bank each day to get local currency. DO NOT take US currency and expect a fair exchange at a local register. The card calculates the exchange rate at the time of processing on the card companies end. The banks will cash you traveler's checks or cash advance from an ATM and give you local money. Only take out what you think you will spend in that country or that day. That way you can only lose that much.

Are you traveling to several countries or only one?

[Skinny Bastard]

sound advice and exactly wht i do... :)

[AYHJA]

Thanks HL65...I had kinda already been told about the credit card thing, but not about the local currency...I'll probably invest in a card that is accepted in the place that I'm going, and then, like you said, try to have local currency...At first, I will only need pounds and Euros, and I have them on my Mastercard, so I should be oK there I think...I'll be in one country maybe as early as this summer, and then another later on in the year...I had hoped to be out by my birthday, but that's definitely too soon...

[Highlander65]

Not everybody takes cards, so local currency is important, but you don't want to look like you're carrying a wad of cash.

[AYHJA]

Just out of curiosity, places you guys have been..?

[Skinny Bastard]

Ireland, Britain (UK), France, Austria, Slovakia, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Panama, and Texas (it really is it's own country.... honest)