Travels with a Humble Narcissist

Under the long list of things to appreciate, I humbly submit:

The ability to travel

Until I started traveling, I had no idea that most people in the world didn’t enjoy the same privilege I had to just  wander about.

The privilege I speak of is the power of the US passport.

The surprising part is that the US passport is not considered the “strongest.”

That honors goes to France, Italy, & Germany (they are all tied for the strongest passport, & most likely to invade/ be invaded by a neighbor). 

The most important criteria is whether you need to a visa for entry or alternatively you can get one upon arrival (in travel-speak, this is known as visa-free).

Essentially, when you show up at the border unannounced, will they let you in? Think of it in the context of your mother-in-law.

If you are from France, Italy & Germany, 177 countries will let you in.

If you are from the United States, it is down a smidge to 172 countries.

If you are from Syria, it is a whooping 39 countries, including such exciting destinations as Iran & Haiti.

Heck, North Koreans can visit 52 countries, and Haitians can thromp around all of 62 countries.

However, North Koreans have to ask permission to even leave the People’s Paradise of North Korea, which is never granted, but gives the regime a great reason to lock up the requester and their entire family for the next few, say, generations 😦 .

At least Haitians can leave Haiti without permission (at this point, they probably can’t find anyone to ask if they want to skedaddle).

During Soviet times, ordinary Commie comrades did not even possess a passport.  If they did have one for some odd reason, it was stored at the local Party HQ for “safe keeping.” Keep in mind that even knowing someone living abroad was cause for suspicion Back in the USSR.

In Cuba, one of my tour guides spoke fluent Italian. I asked her, innocently enough, what she thought of Italy. 

She said she had never been there but hoped to go. . . someday.  I figured cost was the issue since the average Cuban salary is $50 a month.

The actual reason is that she would need a visa to enter Italy, and they seldom grant them to Cubans, even ones that speak fluent Italian (surprisingly the Cuban government no longer restricts Cubans from leaving the country).

These visa restrictions make sense if you think about in the context that banks only want to lend money to people who don’t need it.

Most countries only want to let in people who intend to leave.

Syrians, Iranians, North Koreans, and Cubans are probably going to try to stick around. . . for a while, hence no go.

Keep all this in mind the next time you want to go to Paris for the weekend.

USA USA 🇺🇸!