Thursday 3 February 2011

New Passport!

Today I have managed to sort out my passport (at long last), "Hooray!" I hear my mother cry!  But GOD is it not expensive?? 
Mine hadn't expired in the sense that the date wasn't up until 2014, however it had pretty much physically expired. 
It looks like it has been through the washing machine, been bitten by a dog, been swilled around in a swamp etc etc....

Like an idot I have been carrying my passport around in my bag for the last 3 or 4 years.  Most people who sensibly keep their passports in a safe drawer or maybe even in a special passport cover or case will be wondering if I am mad..... 
It turns out that yes, I probably am mad as it has resulted in me having to pay this extortionate amount of money 3 years before I would have needed to when my passport expired. 

Not that I am not GLAD to be rid of the pasty faced picture of a hungover and overweight teenager...Ok so in my new photo I look like a scruffy tramp, as my casually windswept updo came across on the photo as more like I couldn't be arsed to brush my hair rather than the fashionable hairdo I thought I wore, but hey, at least the tramp is 3 stone lighter.

Anyway, you may be wondering why I chose to carry this expensive and valuable document around in my bag for all these years?  Good question, I am wondering that myself.  I use it for ID for when I buy wine or go to pub or whatever...you never know when these opportunities will present themselves, right?


Well why didn't I get a provisional licence?  It is cheaper and easier to replace....well I did have one once, but I lost it when I lost my purse in Ayia Napa when I was 18. 

Ok.....

So why didn't I have some sort of Proof of Age Card?  Oh but I did!  I lost that when I lost my purse in Glastonbury 2008.

Theme here?

So anyway I decided that "just for now" I would use my passport as ID.  Yes I am 25 but I get ID'd a lot ok??  Not just for wine either, but for lottery, cigarettes and once for a packet of razors. 

You see my need for constant ID?

It is amazing I have never lost my passport considering how my other forms of ID have met their demise.  Oh but wait....I did lose my passport once!  But fortunately got it returned to me although I did have to go out in the rain with a hangover to get it...shouldn't complain though.

Anyway, as it has been in my bag it has been rained on, scuffed over and over again as I rootle around in my bag for stuff, had beef stew spilt on it, had drinks spilt on it when I spill drinks in my bag.
Anyway it was time for a new one as I have had a few comments at the airport, nothing serious but as I am going away a few times this year I do not want to risk being told I cannot fly!  The laminate had come away from the photo page in the corner and apparently that can mean refusal.

So to make sure I can go on my girly holiday to Gran Canaria next month I have applied for a new one and paid for a 2 week service just to be sure.  Bloody bloody expensive though. 

Also, mine isn't quite as bad as the picture, it does not have any ripped pages...although was probably only a matter of time! 
I do not want to be like this man:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7695225.stm

And my passport looked worse than his definitely.  Looks like I have been lucky over the last few years being able to go anywhere, especially as I have been travelling on Ryan Air!

At least when they send me the old one back I can continue to use it for ID and spill beef stew and drinks on it and keep the new one in a safe drawer or maybe in a special holder like someone who really looks after their valuable and expensive documents.