Ooh La La! On the phone this morning, I learned that a friend of mine was going to Europe this summer for
the first time in her life. As we chatted about which parts they were going to visit, I reminded her to check the status of her passport. (I am sure that many of the people in my life are giggling as they read this post.) However, I am okay sharing my mistakes so as to prevent others from doing the same. Husband works very hard in a job that is much more a lifestyle than a nine to five job. There are only two weeks a year in which his industry shuts down and the blackberry can be left at home (not), okay, in the hotel room for an hour. In his desire to work to live, not live to work, he books our vacations a year in advance. Being the lovely partner that I am, I recognize the importance of these two glorious weeks in December. Imagine this, circa 2009– T’was the night of Christmas, the bags were packed, images of casitas and margaritas dancing in my head, we settled in our bed after a terrific day with the kids at the happiest place on Earth. I made a mental checklist of all loose ends as I drifted off to sleep. Magically bolting awake before the 4 am alarm went off in order to catch the 7 am flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I had a bad feeling. Medecine – check/ sunblock- check/ bathing suits- check… hmm, what was gnawing at me? It hit me, I had forgotten to pack the passports. As I went to my file cabinet where I meticulously store my important documents, I began to check the dates of expiration… Do you see where this is heading? My heart started beating and fear began to flow through my blood. My oldest son’s passport was EXPIRED! With the state of affairs in the world, I knew that our trip to Mexico without current passports was going to be impossible. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for husband’s reaction. I gently woke him up and ripped the band-aid off quickly. I won’t bore you with the bloody details, but assume the worst. We were unable to get a passport and a birth certificate would not work. His hard earned vacation went down the toilet. After ignoring me for 24 hours, we decided to make “lemonaid” and planned lots of fun local outings for the family. Therefore, the moral of this story is to check your passports as soon as you book any international vacations.
PASSPORT STATUS
May 26, 2010 By 5 Comments
OH YES! Lived a very similar day! Off to take Rony to Germany for work…EXPIRED! but wait it gets better – he is #$$%%^ canadian! Begged and pleaded at the embassy downtown and got a temporary one in 72 hours – would have been 2 weeks min! I also ignored him for at least 24 hours! Nice that you shared this because the more people i speak to seem to have expired passports and dont realize it until they are in parking lot c at lax!!!
Seriously-NO LIE-as my blackberry dinged w/a message from Lifestyle Lemonaide -I was standing in my local mail box store paying to ship a package out and a lady walks in to interrupt the guy helping me. Frantically lady asks what her friend should do because her passport expired and they are heading to Australia. How random is that? I have a great place in Encino who will make the process easy. Bizzy Box in Encino. Ask for Nancy!
Seriously-NO LIE-as my blackberry dinged w/a message from Lifestyle Lemonaide -I was standing in my local mail box store paying to ship a package out and a lady walks in to interrupt the guy helping me. Frantically lady asks what her friend should do because her passport expired and they are heading to Australia. How random is that? I have a great place in Encino who will make the process easy. Bizzy Box in Encino. Ask for Nancy!
OH YES! Lived a very similar day! Off to take Rony to Germany for work…EXPIRED! but wait it gets better – he is #$$%%^ canadian! Begged and pleaded at the embassy downtown and got a temporary one in 72 hours – would have been 2 weeks min! I also ignored him for at least 24 hours! Nice that you shared this because the more people i speak to seem to have expired passports and dont realize it until they are in parking lot c at lax!!!
Happened to me, too……
I’m on the way to Jamaica last year. My wife and I share a house every year with two other couples. 10,000 square feet, full time staff of five. Infinity pool. You get the picture.
We’re leaving on Saturday AM. On Friday night my wife pulls out the passports and starts hyperventilating. All I hear from the study is “Oh my God, on my God, oh my God……” I walk in to find her curled up in a fetal position looking at me like I used her favorite Blahnik’s to hammer a few nails. My passport had expired the day before…..
On Sunday afternoon I fly from Charlotte, NC to Washington, D.C. On Monday I stand outside the passport office on ‘I’ Street three hours before it opens. I’m 15th in line and there are three others with similar stories. (One got married on Saturday and his wife was waiting for him at Dulles airport to catch a 6:00 flight to Barcelona. He swore he’d make it. I knew he wouldn’t, but didn’t have the guts to tell him. I stood there and literally watched his hair fall out of his head.)
On Monday at 3:45 I receive my passport and run to National Airport to catch a 5:30 flight back to Charlotte. When I get home at 8:30, my wife’s still in the same fetal position in the study. It’s only when she sees the passport, not me, that she begins to stir.
On Tueday morning we leave Charlotte for Ocho Rios. Three days late with only four left when we get there…..
It was bad and I was concerned about my physical safety, but, all in all, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. My wife still loves me, I think, and we made up for lost time once we got there.
I’ll never let it happen again, though………