The rain cooperated and paused long enough for us to make our appointment for the kids passport renewal. I don't know why they call it a renewal because you the application, cost and required documentation is the same whether you are applying for the first time or renewing--at least for kids under 16.
We had all of our documents in order so the process was fairly easy--about 30 minutes in the post office. The pain in the butt was the fact that we showed up at the wrong post office and had to hightail to the correct one so we didn't miss our appointment.
The one bit of advice that may prove helpful to you has to do with the passport pictures. Most places will charge from 8-15 dollars for two pictures. I found a coupon for CVS for 5.99 ea. I thought I had a pretty good deal until the woman behind the counter pulled out a digital camera, took the pictures, and then used the self service kiosk to print the pictures using the passport choice. After asking she said "technically" I could have done it myself and yes it would have been less than a dollar! I imagine most of the self service kiosks have a passport mode for printing the correct size picture.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Plan
Call me crazy. But when the travel bug bites I have little control. The latest episode occurred during the holidays and the only cure it seemed was a trip south of the border...well south of the border. Our last family trip to Mexico was a driving adventure down the Baja peninsula about five years ago. It was an incredible journey to gorgeous, empty beaches, small villages, gigantic cactuses and the amazing beauty of the desert.
After considering all of the options we settled on a summer trip. This allowed us the maximum time--3 weeks, and I was able to secure us a pretty good deal on plane tickets. We will be flying into Mexico City, renting a car. Our ultimate goal will be the Palenque ruins in Chiapas but we will spend time in Puebla, Oaxaca City, Emerald Coast, and wherever else strikes our fancy.
Lately my life has been filled with travel guides, internet queries, mapping distances, reading travel blogs, and trying to convince my wife that we can afford this and we will survive. I have mapped out a pretty good sketch of our trip but am trying to leave as much flexibility as possible. Because we bought discount plane tickets that will be the most inflexible aspect of this trip. I also booked us an apartment in Oaxaca City for a week with a somewhat inflexible cancellation policy. Other than that, the only hotel reservations I made can be cancelled within 24 hours of arrival.
By the way, the name of the blog comes from our son's favorite stuffed animal, Treelow who has traveled all across the country with us on various trips over the last seven years, including the trip to Baja. He has been washed, sewn, and patched up over the years but like our family has held together pretty well.
Next step, renew passports for the kids next week!
After considering all of the options we settled on a summer trip. This allowed us the maximum time--3 weeks, and I was able to secure us a pretty good deal on plane tickets. We will be flying into Mexico City, renting a car. Our ultimate goal will be the Palenque ruins in Chiapas but we will spend time in Puebla, Oaxaca City, Emerald Coast, and wherever else strikes our fancy.
Lately my life has been filled with travel guides, internet queries, mapping distances, reading travel blogs, and trying to convince my wife that we can afford this and we will survive. I have mapped out a pretty good sketch of our trip but am trying to leave as much flexibility as possible. Because we bought discount plane tickets that will be the most inflexible aspect of this trip. I also booked us an apartment in Oaxaca City for a week with a somewhat inflexible cancellation policy. Other than that, the only hotel reservations I made can be cancelled within 24 hours of arrival.
By the way, the name of the blog comes from our son's favorite stuffed animal, Treelow who has traveled all across the country with us on various trips over the last seven years, including the trip to Baja. He has been washed, sewn, and patched up over the years but like our family has held together pretty well.
Next step, renew passports for the kids next week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
