9 posts tagged “travel”

I sent this to our local parenting d-lists today...

Since this comes up often on-list, I wanted to briefly share our passport application experience for our girls, recently (successfully) completed. Much of this info can be gleaned from the State Department page on children's passports at http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html -- but there are some gotchas to avoid.

First, the good news: despite the estimated three-month backlog, the two passports we applied for on Saturday Sept. 1 -- no rush or expediting, just a standard application -- arrived back at our post office on Monday Sept. 17. This is not to say that your process will be as fast, but it does indicate that some of the crunch has been relieved. You should still apply for a passport at least six months in advance of any overseas travel plans, if you possibly can... this early prep will do wonders for your stress level. (We're not going anywhere until next summer, and this is an extremely uncharacteristic burst of organizational energy for us. :-)

Now, the tricky bits. We applied at our local post office (Bay Ridge Station, 54th and 7th Ave) and had to make a return visit due to poor preparation on our end, so hopefully you can learn from our errors. Post offices vary in terms of the hours they accept passport applications, and I recommend arriving at the beginning of a shift to avoid long waits in line.

First, it's a family outing. Not only does the minor applicant (the kid/s) have to appear in person, but all parents or legal guardians have to be present as well. If a parent is not present you'll need a notarized form DS-3053 (http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds3053/ds3053_846.html) to grant permission for the passport application. Single parents must provide evidence of authority to apply, and the acceptable items are listed on the webpage. In general it is much easier if everyone is present in person. Be sure to bring appropriate ID, proof of citizenship and documentation for all participants. If you have a current passport, that's good ID/proof for a parent. Foreign-born parents who are now US citizens may want to bring naturalization paperwork as well.

Second, don't assume the instructions are optional. We had paper copies of the passport application for reference, but we filled in applications online (from http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/forms_847.html) and printed those out. Unfortunately we only brought the "relevant" pages with us to the post office -- the pages with the actual application info, not the instructions/'your legal rights' pages -- and even though we had copies of the paper forms, if you print out the online application, you must bring all the printed pages with you to the post office. Although the website indicates pages 1-4 (out of six) must come with you, don't take the chance of getting a passport processor who doesn't know the exact rules; bring 'em all. (This cost us a day and a return trip to the post office, along with the next gotcha...)

Third, measure your pictures. We took digital pictures of the kids (fine) and printed them out on photo paper on our HP inkjet printer (also generally fine). The rules are very specific, though -- you need two copies of the same picture, and they must be exactly in spec (2x2", precise head size, etc.). One of our pictures was a wee bit too small... and there you have the second part of our one-day delay. Check the pictures against the template on the applications and also against a ruler.

Fourth, you can't waltz in and pick them up. When our two girls' passports had arrived, Heidi went to pick them up with the postal slips in hand. The post office would not release the passports without seeing the girls' social security cards, to prove that we were the proper recipients of the passports. I imagine you could bring the kids along to pick up the passports and match them to the photographs as well, but we didn't try that.

I hope this provides some help. Good luck!

6 year old asks "How much longer until we get there?"

An hour and a half, we reply.

"How long is that?"

Ninety minutes.

"How slow do I have to count to ninety?"

One count per minute, we say.

"Okay. ONE!... is it a minute yet?"

No, we say, laughing so hard that there's a distinct risk of running off the road.

"Tell me when a minute is."

She made it to "NINE!" before getting bored.

Heidi points out an interesting circumstance, as we head up I-95 toward Grandma's house: there's a Connecticut welcome center on the highway near Old Saybrook. That's over 60 miles from the state border.

So, sure, welcome to Connecticut, but not until you've been here for a good long while. For some other states that might be incongruous; for Connecticut, seems about right.

A cascade of holiday plan changes this year. First, we were all going together to PA to spend Thanksgiving with my father-in-law and the extended family, for the first holiday since Elisabeth's death. Then, quite unexpectedly, Heidi got offered a spot on the NY Board of Rabbis Bridge to Understanding trip -- a week in Berlin, meeting with local luminaries and working with German high school students, all heavily subsidized -- and we had to think about it for, oh, a couple of minutes before saying "Yes." Seriously, had someone been trying to create the ideal program for Heidi's skill set and background, this would have been it. She even gets to visit with family friends and some of her mom's old school buddies, and at the end of the program she's taking a couple of days to visit her aunt & uncle in Barnstorf (the smallest small town in the northwest part of the country).

However, she had to fly today, on Thanksgiving. Not to mention she's leaving me alone with the girls for a week. :-)
[For context, our older daughter turns 6 in a couple of months; this is the longest Heidi's been away since her birth.]

So, plan B: I take Thing One and Thing Two up to Martha's Vineyard to Grandma's and have turkey with the whole family, including Ilana & Ashley -- a repeat, basically, of the trip earlier in the month, which was fine but exHAUsting. Boat to be booked, and with the various school schedules and reservation options it worked out that I would leave in the wee hours on Thursday morning for an 11 am ferry. Oy.

Unfortunately, Ilana's health problems forced her to cancel her trip, and then Ashley called off hers as well (since she was only going to be able to stay for a day and a half, too short to make it worth it). Monday night, Mom called to reconsider the wisdom etc., and we redirected to Rich's place instead (moments before Rich would have also bought a $100 ferry ticket). We had a rollicking Thanksgiving dinner with four kids, six grownups and enough food for ten more. Heidi was on her plane, and not everyone else could be there, but it was delightful anyway. Tomorrow, we go to Opa's for a quick visit.

Packed the kids back into the car for a wet, dark, slippery, get-lost-a-couple-times drive back to Brooklyn. Almost 2 hours later (which should take 1:15 under ideal conditions), we park down the block and it's raining, cold, and both girls are asleep. Take out #2, she wakes up. Open the door and wake up #1 (a nearly impossible task under the best of circumstances). Shoes on, and whining/screaming out into the cold rain in pajamas (not the best plan). Lug everyone upstairs, #1 to the bathroom, I accidentally step on her toes. She's miserable.

Everyone bundled into the bed. No Mommy, so this could turn ugly for #2, who is accustomed to nursing to sleep. A moment of fussing as  #1 drifts off, and then... #2 is down too, curled up like a hibernating bear cub at the end of the bed. A kiss for #1, "I love you, sweetie." "Muh love you tuh, Dadrrrsz..." is the best she can muster as her eyes are slamming shut with alacrity.

I'm thankful that I have the two best kids in the entire world.

Early morning chat at work:

Rick: Hey, great job on booking me into that mediocre hotel. Really adequate.

Scott: Well, I found it on threeandahalfstars.com.

[I laughed really hard at that. Turns out that there is actually a band called Three and a Half Stars, from West Chester PA, and they own the domain... but the idea of a travel booking site that's "Good enough but not great!" was delightful.]

As interesting and instructive as it was to attend WWDC, it was hard to be away from the family for that long; especially hard with Heidi's mother facing surgery and an uncertain prognosis. Love and support over the phone are not as loving and supportive as being there in person.

I'm glad everyone's coming back tomorrow. This is the longest I've been away since #2 was born.

I did take some advantage of my temporary solitude by a) trying to go see Clerks II at the Angelika, and failing when the showing was cancelled -- should have gone in SF while I had the chance; b) actually going to see Free To Be Friends at FringeNYC -- very funny and quite disturbing, best line: "Hey kids, wanna hear a story from an owl with a gun?"; then c) going to see an improv show with Sam at the Brooklyn Lyceum,  pretty good, featuring some recent returnees from the annual AND retreat.

I have GOT to go to bed if I expect to paint the back steps tomorrow.

For some reason, there was a mostly empty can of lard in our front garden today. What is up with that?

John McCain's cousin. His mother and McCain's mother are 94 year old identical twins, so genetically they're half-brothers. He said he's never voted for a Republican for President in his life, but in 2008, he may have to.

A dealer in African art. Delightful guy.

Told me a story of a colleague, another dealer, who bought a small statue on eBay for 3,000 pounds, consigned it to a gallery for $750,000 (!) and it eventually sold for over $1 million.

yeow.

Last week I took JetBlue to Florida for a family funeral. I got delayed by weather and left four hours later than scheduled. Mitigating factors: free wireless at JetBlue terminal, plenty of laptop power (though I had to walk around to find an open spot amongst the hundreds of wall warts) and a skajillion food choices, some actually pretty good. I still got to Florida that night, albeit at 2:15 AM.

Now, traveling on business (WWDC), on American Airlines, on a full-fare coach ticket (!), my flight to San Francisco was oversold. I had no seat assignment on my boarding pass, since the ticket was bought Wednesday (when, apparently, AA already knew there were more people booked than would physically fit on the airplane). I read the writing on the wall and volunteered to be bumped to the 5:30 flight.

Now, I'm stuck in Terminal 9 for the day, where there's not much choice of what to eat and -- despite the building being new construction -- power outlets are scarce as truffles (what in the world were they thinking?). Wireless is spotty and pricey. And that full-fare major carrier coach ticket is several hundred dollars more than it would have cost to fly JetBlue, with DirecTV on board -- not to mention that my flight might have actually had a seat for every person. Sure, the $300 flight credit is nice, but this is hella lame.

Oh well. Lunch and finish watching the West Wing DVDs, I suppose. I also packed along an external drive full of my ripped movies just in case.

A line of evening thunderstorms 600 miles long, stretching along the Eastern seaboard, spells nothing but trouble for air travelers. My flight (JetBlue, JFK to Jacksonville) has been delayed over two hours. I find myself entertaining the three-year-old meandering around the boarding area by showing her videos of my girls blowing bubbles and pillow-fighting. It's like Cat TV for toddlers. Meanwhile, as we sail 30 minutes past the revised departure time, they're starting to play the "get out of JFK" music over the PA.

It's interesting what becomes scarce when we humans are crammed together unexpectedly. Cool air is at a premium, and all available electrical outlets seem to have sprouted with wall warts. JetBlue's free wireless networking appears to be handling the load OK, and the food vendors were all up and running (I enjoyed a couple of slices of pizza and some excellent sushi). Surprisingly enough, most folks appear even-tempered. Weather -- whaddaya gonna do?

I did take the Airtrain here today, and got a good view of the ongoing (re)construction at what's left of Eero Sarininen's legendary Terminal 5. (history) (exhibit) I have fond memories of flying TWA to Pittsburgh to visit Heidi and leaving from Terminal 5, walking thru those long tentacles out to the gates. I hope they do the old shack justice.

update: Lots of gate changes make large crowds of people very cranky.