If you’re traveling anywhere outside of the U.S., you
need a passport these days. For Mexico, Canada and the
Caribbean, you at least have to carry a government-issued
photo ID plus proof of citizenship, such as a birth or
naturalization certificate. (Cruise passengers are officially
exempt, although cruise lines now require photo ID and
proof of citizenship.)
If you need a passport fast, pay extra to expedite it.
The Feds promise they’ll get it expedited within three
weeks for $60, plus overnight delivery costs. Private companies
can do it in as little as 24 hours at prices from $179
up. For trustworthy passport expediters, get the list at the
National Association of Visa and Passport Services’ Web
site at www.napvs.info/passport.
If you have four or fewer blank pages in your passport,
have new pages added by going to your local passport
agency, or get details about expediting from the State
Department’s Web site at http://travel.state.gov. Divers
traveling in Asia with nearly full passports have told us
they’ve been refused entry to a country and forced to fly
elsewhere to get pages from an American embassy, which
cost them a few days of time and lots of money.
Carry a photocopy of your passport’s pages in luggage
separate from where you carry your passport. That will
save you days trying to replace a lost passport while you’re
in another country.