Rookie Vagabonders

My beautiful passport

As much as I’m all for spinning a globe and jetting off to wherever my finger lands, the reality is, being a vagabonder actually takes a lot of work. So, before you can climb all 1,710 steps of the Eiffel Tower or trek through the Sahara on camel back, you need a plan.

First things first: THE PASSPORT. If you go overseas, you’re absolutely going to need to get one of these, but it’s also a handy little thing to have even if you’re staying local. Passports are those magical things that allow you to get into countries and probably more importantly, allow you to get back into the ole’ U.S of A. Be warned, these puppies don’t come cheap: $97 if you’re over 18 and $82 if you’re under 16. They last for 10 years though, which is plenty of time to raise your vagabonder status from rookie to expert.

Speaking from personal experience, give yourself plenty of time to get your passports, because the process takes a while (it’s bureaucracy after all!). According to our friends at the U.S State Department, here’s a little check list of things you’re going to need in order to obtain a passport:

• A Passport application form: try the passport application wizard (!) if you’re not sure which type of passport you need (chances are it will be the DS-11 Form)
• Proof of your U.S citizenship
• Two current photographs
• Proof of your identity: a birth certificate would work
• Your Social Security number
• Your fee payment, of course!

A great source for all things passports is Kathleen Crislip’s Student Travel blog (make sure you check out the tips at the bottoms, they’re really useful!)

In addition to a passport, some countries also require that you obtain a visa, so do a little investigating, gumshoes, to see if this might pertain to your destination. I recently came across this fantastic resource, which basically lays out every last document you’ll need, categorized by country.

Now work visas are a whole other sack of potatoes, and one for another time kiddies. But now that you have a better idea of the proper documentation you’ll need, start putting those ambitious travel dreams into action! And I can sleep at night knowing you won’t be tasered by crazy custom agents when you start traversing the globe…everybody wins! More juicy travel tips to come so check back soon, same bat time, same bat channel…