Quick follow up before we get into it.

Last week I told you I'd come bearing gifts. Some of you took me up on it, and the feedback so far has been great.

So consider this your reminder. The free one on one sessions close on September 4th. That's less than a week from today.

Same deal as last week. 30 minutes, ask me anything. Your travel plans, how I do what I do, whatever is on your mind. And no, I'm not going to sell you anything at the end.

Schedule your session here.

After the 4th I'm locking it down and getting back to work. So if you have a question sitting in the back of your head, now is the time.

Now, onto this week. And speaking of things sitting in the back of your head, I want to talk about something in a drawer in your house right now.

Back in 2021 I booked a trip to Toronto. Easy trip, short flight, nothing complicated.

Then somebody asked me when my passport expired.

I pulled it out and looked. It expired a few days after I was supposed to land back home. Days.

And here's the thing. I had no idea if that was a problem. I had heard something about a six month rule. I did not know if it applied to Canada, or if it counted from the day I left or the day I came back. I just knew I might lose the trip over a date I never bothered to check.

I made it. Canada only asks that your passport stay valid while you are in the country, so I cleared it without ever knowing that was the rule.

But here's the catch. If that trip had been to Thailand or Egypt, that same passport would have been useless for months before it ever expired. And I would have found out at the check in counter, bags packed, on the morning of the flight.

Missed flight? Buy another seat. Hotel fell through? Book a new one.

Your passport does not work like that. No amount of money turns a four week wait into a Tuesday. You just do not go.

You look up processing times, see four to six weeks, and think you have room. But that's only the middle part.

The State Department splits it into three:

That's up to 10 weeks, not 6. Mailing time is not processing time, and that's the line that catches everybody.

Expedited costs $60 extra and cuts the middle to two or three weeks. It does not touch the mail unless you also pay $23.36 for faster delivery. A standard renewal is $130 before any of that.

Count backward and you get two dates:

And the best part? They tell you when to apply. Straight from their site: "Our busiest time is between late winter and summer. Plan ahead and apply when we are less busy between October and December."

That's the quiet season. Almost nobody reads that far down the page.

Six months is not the rule everywhere. Plenty of countries across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa want six months of validity. Europe wants three months past your departure. Canada and Japan just want it valid while you are there. There is no worldwide standard, so look up the country you are actually going to.

Your entry date is the deadline, not your expiration date. The clock starts when you arrive. A passport that looks fine in August can be useless in December.

Blank pages count. Some countries need one or two empty pages for stamps. If you travel a lot, check before you assume.

The airline stops you, not the border. You get turned away at check in, at your home airport, by a gate agent with a checklist. Then you eat the ticket. And plenty of airlines apply their own six month rule even when the country does not, so the airline is often the stricter one.

Personally, I stopped memorizing any of it. I keep six months of validity at all times and never think about it again.

For a lot of people it's the simplest path. But a few things surprised me.

It cancels your current passport the second you submit. Not when the new one ships. When you hit send. If you have anything booked, do not start.

It cannot be expedited. Routine only.

You cannot use it if you travel within six weeks. So the people who need speed are the ones locked out.

You also have to be 25 or older, inside the US, not changing your name, with an undamaged 10 year passport that expired less than five years ago.

One warning. Fake renewal sites are everywhere, and some have "Gov" right in the company name. They charge extra, sit on your data, and the State Department cannot help you. The only real one is opr.travel.state.gov. Check for .gov at the end.

Also, keep your old passport. It works as proof of citizenship forever.

You cannot request a spare passport. The policy is one at a time, with narrow exceptions that require a written justification and proof of travel.

And a second citizenship does not get you out of it. US citizens have to enter and leave the country on a US passport, every time. Your other passport is still useful abroad, but you need both current.

Go get your passport. Right now, out of the drawer. Look at three things:

If any of those make you pause, apply this week. Not in November. This week, while we are sitting in the slow season.

Start here: Link That's the official page, and it walks you to the right path whether you are renewing online, by mail, or replacing one that is lost.

A few weeks back I wrote about keeping a double of everything. This is the front end of that. Copies protect you after something goes wrong. A current passport keeps you from getting there.

I got lucky in Toronto. Do not be me in 2021. Go look at your passport.

Keep traveling,

Anyone renewed online yet? How long did it really take?

Keep Traveling,

Andrew