“Professor
Garbor, I have some bad news. I never checked the expiration on my
passport and it expired months ago. So we’re working on getting a new
one and it looks like I’ll be on the flight on Thursday, instead of
Monday. I am soo sorry. Is this going to mess everything up?”
I don't believe in Revisionist History. So while Michael's trip to Belize was wonderful in many ways. it wasn't perfect - not the trip, not the days leading up to it, not the people involved. But if you're reading here, you'll know I'm going to simply tell it the way it happened.
Michael is a lot like me. He's a People Organizer. When he first starting seriously planning his trip to Belize with his Anthropology class, he set up a Facebook Group. This would allow pre-trip information and post-trip pictures to be shared easily. No one would become a bottleneck. He posted reminders they had received at meetings, so no one would forget important deadlines. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Airfare was purchased a month in advance, suitcases were nearly ready and we were sitting around on the last Sunday afternoon before Michael was to leave. Julie, her boyfriend, her kids, her dogs, plus Grandma, plus our five. The topic of passports comes up and how the prices have risen significantly. Julie and her ex-husband had traveled extensively and she was certainly the most "in the know." As we’re all chatting, Michael flips to his own passport. The color drains from his face. He goes upstairs to show me, “Expiration: 2/28/10.” In all of his prepping for the trip, he never thought to look at the expiration date! His plane for Belize was to leave in 48 hours - possibly without him now.
But we're all problem-solvers. So Ron grabs the laptop
and I gets on the PC, quickly looking at passport renewal information.
Many of the sources look like it might take a month to renew - 2 weeks
at the minimum. Finally, we both stumble on “Same Day Passports.” And
they have an office in Austin. Interestingly, they boast that they are
available 24/7. So I find the number and Ron makes the call. And, on a
Sunday night, a man actually answers the phone. Ron describes the
situation and the man thinks he can get a passport for Michael by
Wednesday. Ron and Michael would need to be at their office on Monday
morning at 8 a.m.
As solutions are being found to the passport
problem, I move to the airline issue. The roundtrip air flight was
booked through Orbitz. Finding the itinerary, I look to see if anything
is available on Thursday and what the costs will be to change the
flight. With only 4 days advanced planning, the available flight is
only $100 more! Tack on the “change of flight” charges and the Orbitz
charges and we’re at $280 more. But Michael now has a seat on Thursday
morning flight. There *were* some Wednesday night flights, but since
he’d have to take a water taxi for the first time, it seemed best to not
do that at night. Plus, if there was a glitch at the passport office,
we’d be frantically doing this all over again.
Next, Michael
needed to reach his teacher. The first numbers were not working. So he
dug through is suitcase to find alternate contact numbers. His teacher
was already in Belize and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to reach him. But,
success! Professor Garber answered the 3rd number.
To say that Professor Garber is laid back, is an understatement.
 |
Dr. Garber
“Maaaan.
Shit happens, ya know? Especially when it comes to traveling. It won’t
be a problem. We’ll probably still just be setting up! Call me if it
changes, but we’ll look for you on Thursday." |
A few more pleasantries were exchanged and that was that.
Monday,
Ron and Michael went to Same Day Passports and completed the paperwork
for the passports. The total charge was going to be $525. This would
get the expedited passport to us on Wednesday morning. If there was a
snag and the expediting is denied, we would have to pay an additional
$290 but we could have the passport by Wednesday night. At this point,
we had already invested about $6000. If we had to add another thousand
to it, it’s better than walking away leaving $6000 for nothing. So we
did.
Michael and Ron came back. Ron went back to work and Michael
went back to house-sitting. (He was in the middle of a weeklong
house-sitting for a house FULL of pets in the nearby neighborhood) With
passports on the brain, Ron started looking up the regular costs, so the
rest of the family could have passports. He noticed that there were
extra steps if the applicant applied for a passport before reaching age
16. Michael’s expiration date was one month before his 21st birthday, so
it seemed likely that he HAD applied before he was 16. So Ron called
SameDay Passports, and she pulled up the date for the original passport
issue date. Sure enough, Michael had completed the paperwork at 15,
before he went to Japan. This meant they had completed the wrong
paperwork at Same Day passports.
Nothing could be done locally to fix this.
New
instructions: Ron had to call the State Department in Houston to make
an appointment. We had no idea whether this would be the next day or
weeks from now. Luckily, he got an appointment for 1 p.m. the next day,
Tuesday. I had to get to Same Day Passports to pick up the passport and
the other paperwork that was there for them to TAKE to Houston. They
close at 5 p.m. but agreed to stay a little late since it was their
error. What time was it when Sue found out she had to go across town in
rush hour traffic? 4:55 p.m.
So with paperwork in hand, Ron and
Michael trekked to Houston Tuesday morning. They found their way, with
the help of Katie’s GPS, without problems. As they were chatting with
the man completing the paperwork at the State Department, Ron and he
discover that they KNEW each other. Both were stationed together at
Sheppard AFB. That’s all fine and good, but now he has to get someone
else to come swear Michael in, since he “knew” him. At this point,
what’s another few minutes?
But the Same Day Passports people
were again incorrect when they said he would be able to leave the
interview with his passport. In fact, it would take 24 hours. And they
could not mail it to us, they would have to pick it up there. So, that
meant Ron and Michael would have to stay overnight in Houston. This
turned out kind of fun, since I found online that the Museum of Natural
Science was actually easily accessible to where they were. And, Tuesdays
are open late until 8 p.m., so they were able to spend a decent amount
of time there.
Is it too soon to say maybe luck is changing? As
I type, it’s Wednesday morning. We are waiting for the 2:30 pick up
time for the passport. And, if all goes well, they’ll get back tonight
and Michael will board his plane Thursday morning for Belize.
Just to toss a few good things out:
- Michael was really lucky his teacher is laid back and not caring if
he arrives late. This trip is for credit that he needs for his upcoming
senior year.
- We were lucky to get a flight on Thursday, and it was
only $100 more. I thought the point of reserving your seats way in
advance was to keep costs low? Hmmm.
- Same Day Air returned all our
money, and going to Houston to do this looks like it will cost a
fraction of the “convenience” of doing the passport thing in Austin. Of
course, we had to add on gas (but they took the Prius!) and hotel fee.
But still, it’s not going to come up to $1000. More like a $500-$550.
- Ron and Michael got to have a little time at the museum together in Houston. They have similar interests so that works.
Carmel Car Service - great service. With 5 people, it was cheaper and faster than the Super Shuttle (@$16/person). We had a minivan for $50, plus the $6 toll and the tip. We made it from LaGuardia to Times Square in under 30 minutes each way. 
Marriott Marquis 
It started raining and we ran across the street to Junior's for sandwiches. We were running late so we got them to go. Not that great for the money. Probably because we had to carry them a little ways before we ate. Waiter comments from Bubba Gumps were that we should only get our cheesecake from Junior's and get our Pastrami Sandwiches from Katz.
