The Passport Stamp Demystified

Another stamp on your passport. Although it may sound worldly or distinguish you from those who are not fortunate enough to globe trot, the truth is it's not that glamorous.

I'm here to tell you about some of my travel woes and mishaps. It seems like every time I go somewhere, something always happens. I don't want to continue to jinx myself but it's a pattern lately.

When I leave and enter any country, I can always count on being questioned about my occupation, if I still live in the same place, what type of business I am here to conduct, what is the name of the company that I am visiting, etc. Once as I walked away, I heard another agent, say to his colleague next to him "You see what I was trying to do." Deport me????

I also have to go into the "special" queue for non-EU citizens where there is only 1 or 2 agents for 3 or 4 flights that have arrived at the same time. I guess we do the same in the US. I have gotten used to it and succumb to the fact that this comes with being an immigrant in a foreign country. It also gives me more sympathy to what we in the US put our immigrants through. I am sure they have had to endure far worse.

So in my one of my earlier blogs, I wrote that on my first business trip, I went to the wrong airport. Well on Tuesday, I had to be in Paris for a very important meeting I was facilitating. I arrived at the station only to realize that I had forgotten my passport! I talked to the French authorities and there was no way I was getting on. My US drivers license wasn't going to cut it. I rebooked for the next train and rushed back home to get my passport. That day I must travelled the Victoria line 6 times! In the end, I was lucky to make it on time. Not a single hair out of place.

Today, I travelled Ryanair. They are notorious for wanting to make money off of you. They have very strict boarding procedures. If your bag is too big, you are charged. If you are late to check in by 5 minutes they refuse you. On the advice of my manager, I made sure everything was sorted before I left the office. I printed my boarding pass. I entered my passport information. Well how come I made it through the initial airport security and when it came time for me to board, I was denied? Turns out because I am a non-EU resident, my passport information had to be validated at the front desk. So really, what was the purpose of me checking in online and entering my passport information? There was no budging. I was told I needed to be escorted out of the airport. Embarrassed as hell, I had to call my manager yet again to tell him that something had happened to me as I was travelling and that he should not wait for me at the Dublin airport. After waiting an hour and a half for someone to walk me out of Gatwick, I finally made my way home. For a moment, I was ready to scream false imprisonment because the woman said that I need to stay near where she could see me and that being escorted was the only way I could leave the airport .

On another occasion after I arrived from Barcelona, I took the train home from Gatwick. It was delayed at 1:00a.m. (go figure). When I finally made my way home, I got off on the wrong stop in Selhurst (never heard of the town) at 2:00a.m. and there were no other trains until 6:00a.m. I was able to get a taxi. Of course the taxi driver asked me a million questions about why I was out so late, where I was from because I don't sound like I am from around here, etc.... I told him my train situation and that my fictitious boyfriend didn't have a car otherwise he would have come to get me and that he was waiting for me at home.

So what I have I learned you may ask? Going forward, I am going to read the fine print not once but twice and not take anything for granted. I'm in a new country with new rules. I also need to pay more attention to detail and make sure I have a plan when I travel. Perhaps subconsciously my nervousness gets the best of me. Maybe I need my friend Andrea (human map) with me permanently....or maybe I can just marry a British man and my passport problems will be solved!