Comments on: Protect Thy Passport

By: Daniel Noll

Daniel Noll — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 22:42:41 +0000

@Gus: Fair point regarding when dealing with government officials overseas. It’s really a judgment call whether one plays it “smart” or “stupid”. It depends on the situation, how you read it, and ultimately playing on both power and sympathies to one’s benefit. True, it could go either way. Thanks for the observation and the comment!

By: Gus

Gus — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 10:20:00 +0000

Just a tip here, this one could go either way, remember in places where legitimate govt officials pol/army whatever, are corrupt it can also work to your advantage to speak the local lingo (if you know it) rather than playing stupid, because then they know you’re not just another dumb tourist in their country.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:41:53 +0000

@Ashley: As you travel around, keep your eyes open in odd places for passport covers. I find that there are usually stands selling document and passport covers outside of post offices in foreign countries.

I picked up my Czech passport cover at the Vietnamese market in Prague and Dan found his Turkmen cover at the market in Ashgabat. Almost picked up an Iranian passport cover at the post office in Tabriz a few weeks ago, but thought that might not be the best idea…

Good luck!!

By: ashley

ashley — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:16:21 +0000

hey guys! i’ve been looking all over for a foreign country passport cover like you two have and i have not been able to find one at all! where did you get them??

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:41:53 +0000

@Grumpy: No easy answer here. The best is when you can safely lock it up at your hotel before going to the beach. As we’re two people, we often take turns watching our moneybelts when we’re on the beach. If we’re both in the water, we hide it deep in a bag and keep an eye out. Not ideal, but we also like to swim together sometimes.

As for extra pages, you are allowed to get up to 4 sets of pages as long as the passport is in good condition. I just received my 3rd set at the Embassy in Berlin and was told that was the final set. But, I just learned of someone who got 4 sets pf pages. Good luck!

By: Grumpy

Grumpy — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:34:39 +0000

Do you have an advise for what to do with your passport/money belt when at a beach. I have locked it in my bag at a hotel at times but don’t always trust the hotels. I have locked it up in a motorbike a few times but worry the bike maybe stolen. I have also left it in my stuff on the beach and not let it leave my sight but don’t like that at all.

Also you said that pages where added more than once. I thought the rule with US passports is you can only have pages added once. Did you get some kind of exception or was what I have told incorrect? I just was down to one blank page on my last passport after having pages added and was concerned I would have to get a new passport while traveling.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 08:44:14 +0000

@Katherine: Thanks for adding this practical advice to have photocopies or scanned versions of all relevant cards, not just one’s passport. It’s good to know that hostels are flexible to accept photocopies instead of demanding the original card.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:08:54 +0000

Excellent advice for protecting your documents!

I suggest also doing this if you have a youth hostel card, keep a photocopy in your suitcase or backpack and scan it too for online like they are suggesting. I once left my card at a hostel in Amsterdam and was too far away to retrieve it, but the rest of the summer, hostels accepted my photocopy. They saw the information matched my passport and I was able to keep using the photocopy for the next two months without any problems. It saved me.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:28:09 +0000

@Yamile: Thank you for sharing your passport story. You were much more calm than I would have been – I really don’t like it when my passport is out of my control. But, that would have likely made things worse given that you were flying to hyper security United States.

I’m so glad you did get an official apology and compensation. Good for you!!

@Modasar: Thank you – glad you enjoyed these passport articles.

@Kirklops: When someone else has your passport and he wants money, the only thing you really can do is pay up. Really sad, but that’s usually easier and cheaper than going through the process of getting a new one. Glad that your local friends were able to negotiate for you. And, hope that hasn’t happened again!

By: Kirklops

Kirklops — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:19:17 +0000

These tips are a big help, no doubt.
Had trouble with a corrupt police officer in Tanzania once. Took a lot of persuasion from one of my local friends to reduce the amount asked to something reasonable. Not proud of it, but had to pay up.