Ditch the Money Belt and Build a Hidden Pocket

by Justin Glow on

While I do feel they are usually necessary, I dislike wearing a money belt when traveling. I own a Rick Steves-branded pouch, but I often find myself not wearing it because it’s uncomfortable. Even when it is strapped to my waist, I spend too much time with my hands down my pants fixing an annoying situation spawned by the belt. This, of course, draws attention to the very thing I am trying to hide.

I was searching around today for money belt alternatives and ran across this tutorial on building a hidden pocket into an existing pair of pants. The plans seem simple enough: turn your pants inside-out, cut a scrap piece of fabric into the same shape as your existing pocket, and sew! Even I could do this!

You could do this to all 4 pockets of your pants, effectively tripling your storage space. My brain is already churning with ideas on how to keep your valuables from falling out. Andy over at HoboTraveler created a Velcro-based pocket, which seems ideal, though a zipper could work as well.

Now how could I waterproof it?

Temple University Prez Will Pay Passport Fees

by Kelly Amabile on

Will Temple U soon be Travel U? The new President of the Philadelphia-based university welcomed the idea in her inauguration remarks last week, as she urged students to take advantage of opportunities to study or work abroad while in college:

“I am so convinced that this experience is essential to your education that my husband Randy and I will pay your passport fee,” she said. “Internationalization will help you develop the point of view essential to contribute as citizens of the world and compete in the international marketplace.”

Way to go prez! Beginning this summer, Ann Weaver Hart and her hubbie will pay for any Temple student applying for a passport for the first time. They are creating a fund within the Office of International Programs at the school, which will be used to finance any student wishing to have the Prez pay for his or her passport. Bravo, I say. And not a bad way to become big woman on campus mighty fast. If only the new passports could be processed as quickly!

Evil Passports Plague Village

by Dave Luna on

The devil is in the details for a group of Russian citizens. About a hundred residents of the village of Bogolyubovo claim bar codes found in the country’s new passports contain the Mark of the Beast. This refers to a set of three sixes which are believed to signify the Devil.

The town’s name translates to “God-loving” in English, and it seems its people are quite serious about that. Some elderly residents have even gone a step further and stopped picking up pension checks because of the attached satanic bar codes. Now, that’s dedication.

This is all very interesting especially amid the talks of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in American passports. I’m fascinated that American concerns dwell in realms of privacy while these humbler folk center their objections around religion.

Passport Proxy: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

by Willy Volk on

Going along with our recent post about keeping valuables safe while traveling, here’s an interesting idea. According to Kevin Kelly — who may be the luckiest, coolest, most interesting-sounding person on the planet — he has a friend who has made a high-quality, color copy of his passport, including the covers. By aligning the inside sheets of the passport with the outside cover sheet, laminating the important bits, and scoring carefully, he’s made an official-looking identification document. Obviously, this isn’t going to get you across (most) borders, but for “other” purposes (think: changing money at a bank, car rentals, hotel check-ins, etc.), this passport clone is sufficient.

According to the US Passport Agency, it’s both legal and recommended for you to make a copy of your passport. However, do you think the risk of having to explain why you’re changing money in a foreign country with a copied passport outweighs the benefits of the few quick money-changes you might enjoy?

Passport Rules Changing

by Erik Olsen on

Making my way to Canada this year to spend a week in the gloriously beautiful Canadian province of Newfoundland, I discovered a nasty little surprise. My wife and I got to the airport and discovered that Newfoundland requires Americans traveling there to bring a passport or birth certificate to enter by air from the United States. I had no idea. For years living in Seattle I came and went to Canada and needed only to show my drivers’ license. I was pretty damn upset because no one told us that the rules had changed, and so we had to go back and get our passports and needless to say, we missed our plane.

Well my hardies, the rules HAVE changed, although they have not taken effect Canada-wide quite yet, and when they do take effect, they will cover Mexico as well. Yes, visitors to the NAFTA states North and South will soon have to bring along passports to cross the country’s borders…well, the key is really getting back in. The rules take effect December 31 for air travelers to and from the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada.

A year later, on Dec. 31, 2007, the requirement will be extended to all land-based border crossings as well.

Now, this could be either a good thing or a bad thing.

It’s certainly a bad thing in that it makes going to Mexico and Canada a bigger pain in the buttocks. I keep my passport in a safe, locked place in my home, and I am just not sure that if I decide suddenly to take a road trip to Montreal that I’m going to remember it. I suppose I’ll have to. It may also be bad in that it might discourage Americans who want to travel “abroad” from going because they either a) don’t have passports or b) forgot them.

But perhaps we should look on the bright side. Maybe the new rules will inspire people who don’t yet have a passport to go out and get one. Given the rather awful statistics that say only 20 percent of Americans carry a passport (thus speaking loudly and clearly to our deficiencies as an internationally-aware, culturally sensitive nation) putting them in more Americans’ hands could very possibly help improve our awareness of those “others”, AKA foreigners, on the other side of the border.

By the way, Lonely Planet has been pushing this whole idea for a whle, and ,in fact, THIS is National Passport Month. So how’s that for good timing?