Passport and visa stories -- do you have one?

[kyshel]

I look forward to going back to that thread now. Your writing is usually quite enjoyable. I didn't realize a story had to have a moral; my stories were just stories.
I suppose this board would less voluminous if these comments weren't posted, right?
By the way--a quick search of "passport stories" doesn't even mention the "safety" thread.

Message Edited by kyshel on 02-06-2008 06:48 AM

[lhbrown]

Hi kyshel,
I typed in passport and credit card safety for my search since I remembered posting some tips and suggestions on that subject earlier and it came up with the thread on "safety in foreign lands" first posted by funtimes. I know there were others, like safety warnings in Rome and Florence. So there is extensive information "and stories, if you like" on passport, credit card and pocketbook safety and how to protect yourself and your vital information when traveling abroad, out there. The only way to find out more about it is to do keyword searches. That goes for most anything on this board. It seems that only the newest questions or threads get attention, which is unfortunate. As members of the community board, and especially as VIP Contributers, we should keep this board clean and well organized.

I guess you are right in your assumption that "this board would be less voluminous if these comments weren't posted, right?" Touche..... as they say in French.

[funtimes]

OK you two ... Don't make me post both of you - an old version of Don't make me come back there from my parents while driving ...anyway Kyshel you crack me up!!! The tape story and the bleep are both hysterical. My passport always causes trouble because originally I sent in a laminated birth certificate so...my passport was voided after only a few months - allowing me to take my original trip and allowing for time to get them an official raised notary birth certificate They Voided on the front and back and then later crossed it out in pen and incredibly reinstated the passport on a separate page EVERY time I go through customs I must show 3 pages to get the point across that my passport is indeed valid - sounds much like your tape problem can't wait to get a new one in 2 years I believe mine expires I will have all that is needed next time right away Take care and glad to read the posts where ever they are!!! You 2 are some of the best LL community posts! Take Care...Funtimes

[maylinglai1]

These are all great. Mine was in Macau, when I was younger. I had been staying in HK between semesters for fun. On day 31 I decided to go to Macau and got stopped at the boarder. This is how I learned that 30 days is the maximum limit for most countries on non-visa. Luckily the people at the border could tell I was just a clueless kid. They gave me a well-deserved lecture on being smarter about the visa laws when traveling abroad. Afterwards, they told me to have fun in Macau, but next time go a day earlier and there would be no issue.

[maylinglai1]

@JasherMD... that is hysterical and notoriously the case with the Chinese Embassy. It's amazing. Those are people who really understand that the cut off time means the cut off time. The funniest thing is that the Chinese Embassy may keep some of the single most inconvenient hours. It's like 10am to 12:30 and then 2-4 or something like this. The line starts around 9am in all the major cities. Definitely one of the few international visas were you get your money's worth in paying someone to expedite.

[claassenam]

Always make sure at those hotels where they keep your passports while you are staying there - get them back when you check-out! At one hotel in Egypt we were running late for a flight, the hotel was pretty disorganized at checkout and we realized once we were at the ticket check-in at the airport, 45 minutes from the hotel, that they never returned our passports! We spent precious minutes figuring out how to call the hotel from the airport (which required a specific elusive phone card and the help of several locals), explaining our situation to the frazzled people at the front desk, and watching the clock tick by....thankfully the hotel threw somebody in a cab and brought the passports to us, just in the nick of time. We'll never make that mistake again!

[CMDAVILACLI]

I took my daughter to London & Paris about 8 years ago for her 13th birthday and while we were on the Paristrain through the Chunnel, I pulled out my "file" to show her the currency and more about where we were staying, etc. Instead of putting the file away (which contained our passports and traveller's checks), I accidently folded up the "tray" with the file on it and left it on the train. We rushed off the train, and made our way to the home of some friends of ours and went immediately to bed. Therefore it wasn't until the next morning that I realized I had leftour passports on the train and of course, all our money, etc.MyFrench friends helped uscall the police to see what they could do, and the told us we had to go down to the police station to file thepaperwork... keep in mind that I do not speakFrench! So we made our way to the police station, filed the paperwork and gave themour friend's phone number. They directed us togo to the consulate to get replacement passports, but it was closed that day.I spent the rest of the day replacing the traveller's checks (which, by the way,was very easy through American Express)... and ended back up at my friend's house before dinner time. Lo and behold, the policehad called...a garbage manhad found our passports in the trashcan at the trainstation and turned them into the police!!!! (Needless to say, the traveler's checks and cash were not found!) We were able to retrieve them that same night and continue on with our trip with our passports safely tucked away! So in less that 24 hours, our passports were lost, and found!

cmdavilacli

[jashermd]

Hello,

Thanks for posting your stories -- they're great!

I think that threads like this (and the ones about things like favourite destinations, dream trips, favourite airplanes, and souvenir addictions) are part of what makes the LL Community more than just a 'question and answer service' like TripAdvisor (though I also enjoy spending time there). They're a chance to talk about travel in a more global sense rather than just in a practical sense, and they give the Community a warmer and more pleasant atmosphere.

While it's great to see more and more content in the Community, I do agree with Lhbrown that this particular board is getting rather unwieldy -- I've always felt that there are quite a few posts here which really belong elsewhere (notably destination-specific posts). The recent collapse of many of the less active destination boards has resulted in a an exacerbation of this problem as a lot of those posts have been moved onto this board. I suspect that this will sort itself out as LL finds a happy medium between too many boards and too few boards.

At present time there really isn't another place for threads like this one, unless LL feels like creating an 'Off-Topic Travel Chat' board like TripAdvisor has, and I'd hate to see the more fun and social side of things in the Community fall by the wayside.

Cheers,
Julian