Passport Pet Peeves

Ah, the benefits and luxuries of having a passport...traveling the world, seeing and experiencing something completely new and exciting. But before we get ahead of ourselves we're forgetting about the primary experience of the whole trip: applying for the passport. Talk about a tedious process. My loving boyfriend decided to be a trooper and accompany the trip to the Concord post office (not the nearest passport services site)

Here I reviewed a long list of tiny printed rules and regulations of the process. Glancing back and forth between the huge list, huge line of people, and infinite amount of questions on the application, I decided to prolong my situation (sorry mom).

So this doesn't happen to you, here are some tips and necessities when purchasing your passport.

*Make a plan as to where you're going for the passport services and once you've done that make sure you call ahead of time and find out the hours these services are being held (differ with location and days of the week).

*Have your passport picture previously made and ready to go when you walk into the post office, you can get your pictures taken at CVS or Walmart (not that you can't have them done there, but it tacks off about 5-10$ off your hefty total).

*Another fun fact, they're not inexpensive. Depending on where you go and what services you are looking for, my passport was close to $140. Yea...so make sure you have that in cash or check (again always beneficial to call beforehand to see what you're working with).

*Original copy of birth certificate.

*And if you've filled out the information prior, to avoid sitting there and filling out an application, don't forget that either.

These little steps make a seemingly drawn out process quicker and easier. If you have yet to complete this process make sure to take some of these tips into consideration when doing so, and happy travels.