For some, 'tis travel time. The other day I discovered yet another ranking list, one I
would never have thought of.
It’s the ranking of passports. See here, and also here.
These rankings have to do with how many countries do not
require a visa from the passport holder. The more, the “better” the passport,
as in allowing its holder greater travel freedom.
Only about a third of Americans have a valid passport at any
time, and the feeling of belonging to a good or “best” country has little to do
with how many other nations approve of ours. But a good passport is no trifle.
I say this, because I know two people who are in the process
they hope will eventually give them a US passport, and loving what the country
stands for is less than half their impetus to undergo this lengthy and
expensive course.
Their number one reason is to have a passport that makes
travelling easier.
From birth I held (or was entitled to hold) two passports. One
is ranked 4th in passports, the other 17th. (Some
differences depending on which ranking, but the disparity is the same.) My love
for both countries is real. But, trust me, in the days I travelled more the passport
ranking did make a difference.
We take so much for granted. Being part of a strong country
is yet another thing to appreciate when it comes to life’s fortunes, which in
my case I hadn’t had to struggle for.
Americans are fortunate in many ways. This is just one more
to be grateful for.
5 comments:
Who knew? I had no idea of these rankings but I was grateful when my passport expired while living in Belgium and the folks at the American consulate were wonderful getting me a new passport quickly. Except because it "looked" different than a regular passport, I was always given extra scrutiny while travelling anywhere, including returning home to the US.
I wonder how your American passport looked different. DH has a Peace Corps passport, which does look different.
Because I was born in Italy and have an Italian birth certificate, I always thought I could have dual citizenship.Traveling with an Italian passport in the EU would make things easier than with a US passport. Alas, I learned that being born in Italy does not necessarily guarantee citizenship and a passport, unlike in the US. And while some people are claiming citizenship of certain European countries (e.g., Spain, Portugal, Germany) through proof of ancestors there, I'm not inclined to do that to get a Polish passport. So I'll keep my US passport, thank you very much.
Ummm...clearly, it's past my bedtime. That passport ranking site made no sense to me. I could find no explanation of what those numbers and colors on the bar graphs stood for. But fortunately I don't need to know. Blessings on all those for whom this is a critical issue.
I had no idea passports were ranked. I had a valid passport once upon a time. My trip was canceled so I never got to use my beautiful passport.
Love,
Janie
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