British travelers have been seeking replacements for damaged passports at a staggering rate, but the reasons why might defy logic.
According to the British Government, claims for emergency travel documents jumped 300 percent last year. As you might expect, some of those involved cases of IDs that had been lost or pick pocketed while traveling. But not everyone was a victim of crime — many travelers destroyed their passports as a result of reckless behavior. Storing their document in the freezer or using their passport as a coaster for their beer were two of the stranger reasons cited.
Getting a replacement passport can cost both time and money, especially if you have to cancel your flights while you wait. But some travelers are unfazed by the situation and have managed to find creative ways around the problem.In one instance, a British man had his passport tattooed onto his back during a backpacking trip to Australia. Surprisingly, the skin art was actually accepted as ID. Upon running out of money, the man managed to withdraw cash from an Aussie bank after removing his shirt to flash the teller his unusual passport.
Meanwhile, a Canadian man got into the United States using just an ipad. He had traveled several hours from his hometown of Montreal and only realized he had forgotten his passport as he neared the U.S. border. Taking a chance, he whipped out his ipad which held a scanned copy of his passport and amazingly, the official let him through.
And then there was the 9-year-old British girl who managed to pass through Turkish immigration after accidentally handing over a fake passport that belonged to her stuffed unicorn. Oblivious officials even stamped the toy passport as they waved her into the country.