Leap of Faith

ByCathy Bennett Kopf

My passport expires in November. With no international trips planned in the next 4-6 weeks, I took a deep breath and completed form DS-82. Then I went down to the Photo Shoppe and had my picture taken. “Does this look like you?” the clerk asked. Yes, sadly, it does. I start humming “Sixteen Tons” and shuffle my ten years’ older and deeper in debt self out of the store.

My first passport photo - starry-eyed, tan, and young.
My first passport photo – starry-eyed, tan, and very young. A bit of a Liza Minella/Kirk Cameron hybrid. Who doesn’t miss the ’80’s?

On to the post office. Ninety cents later, my application with stapled photo, a check for $110 and my old passport are on their way to the Department of State. Next month, I’ll have a new book ready to be filled with stamps. But for now, please don’t offer me an all-expense-paid trip to Thailand since I’d have to decline. And I’ll have to keep my nose clean for a few weeks, since I can’t go on the lam.

Reminder:  Check the expiration date on your passport and suck it up, if it’s due to renew within the next 6 months. Also, don’t forget to enter my Rafflecopter giveaway for one of 3 Jetsetter Digital Luggage Scales. The contest ends August 12!