Saturday 16 May 2020

Is it worth renewing my passport?

My passport is valid until 12th October 2020, so renewing it is not yet a pressing issue. But should I bother? Am I ever likely again to leave the UK?

Well, on the face of it, no. I'll be caravanning for the foreseeable future, and that means mostly on the mainland of Great Britain. So England, Wales and Scotland. If I can afford the ferries, maybe I'll take in the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and even Ireland. 

Ah, Ireland. I probably will need a passport to go to the Republic. 

Then what about the Channel Islands, particularly Guernsey? Or the Isle of Man? None of them are part of the UK, and I'll surely need a passport. 

I'm assuming that I'd fly to some of these places from Gatwick. That would be the least enjoyable part of the journey for me. To be frank, I don't yearn to fly again. I haven't flown anywhere for ten years, and I've grown unhappy about getting into a plane again. In fact I'm a bit nervous about it. But I suppose a short domestic flight would be bearable. Post-virus, of course.

But a long-haul flight? I haven't taken one of those since visiting New Zealand in 2007, thirteen years ago. I literally flew around the world, always going west. The first leg was London Heathrow to Los Angeles International. That was novel, and done in daytime with good ground visibility, so it was very interesting. But the night-time flight across the Pacific to Auckland was less enthralling. It was just too long. Coming home, another night-time flight to Hong Kong, even more monotonous. And finally a daytime flight all across Asia to Heathrow, but with cloud obscuring the entire time we were over Russia, though strangely not China, nor the home run over the Baltic and thence back to London.

It went smoothly, all of it, but I was glad to get down safely. I'd had quite enough of long-haul flying, even though it hadn't been too uncomfortable (we went Premium Economy, not Cattle Class). But it had quickly got boring, and something of an endurance test, and I hated the tedious security measures that had been imposed.

So if ever I found enough cash, and plucked up enough courage, would I fly to anywhere distant again - somewhere that I'd definitely need a passport? 

I'd seriously consider Canada. All bits except the frozen north. City-hopping mainly. 

If I could go before my mid-seventies, and there were no insurmountable health issues, a return visit to New Zealand might be done. My step-daughter Adrienne is there. 

Closer to home, Iceland. 

Sweden and Scandinavia generally would be nice. To see where my ancestors lived.

I wouldn't ever want to become a habitual flyer because that would be bad for the planet. And besides the 2007 experience has stripped away any glamour that flying might have had for me. But I've identified a handful of major trips that could be made, and they all need travel ID. I'll be ambitious and try to fit them in. So come the autumn, it's a new blue British passport for Miss Melford. 

3 comments:

  1. Have you been listening to my thoughts? Today, May 17th, in past years we would have just disembarked the ferry to France and had breakfast in the sunshine outside a cafe in the centre of Caen. There is less than a year to run on our passports and with the odd rules about them not being useable for the last six months of their ten years validity for many trips they are now as good as useless.

    Many factors come into play for renewal, they are not cheap but getting a validated photograph has become much more difficult with even your doctor removed from the approved list unless they state that they know you well (for example they’re a good friend) and that they recognise you easily from your photo! In the past it was a nice little earner to sell their signatures for a fat fee!
    Who is allowed? A strange list if ever there was one but thankfully much expanded from the very restricted one last time I applied.

    Examples of recognised professions include:

    accountant
    airline pilot
    articled clerk of a limited company
    assurance agent of recognised company
    bank or building society official
    barrister
    chairman or director of a limited company
    chiropodist
    commissioner for oaths
    councillor, for example local or county
    civil servant (permanent)
    dentist
    director, manager or personnel officer of a VAT-registered company
    engineer with professional qualifications
    financial services intermediary, for example a stockbroker or insurance broker
    fire service official
    funeral director
    insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company
    journalist
    Justice of the Peace
    legal secretary (fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs)
    licensee of a public house
    local government officer
    manager or personnel officer of a limited company
    member, associate or fellow of a professional body
    Member of Parliament
    Merchant Navy officer
    minister of a recognised religion (including Christian Science)
    nurse (RGN or RMN)
    officer of the armed services
    optician
    paralegal (certified paralegal, qualified paralegal or associate member of the Institute of Paralegals)
    person with honours, for example an OBE or MBE
    pharmacist
    photographer (professional)
    police officer
    Post Office official
    president or secretary of a recognised organisation
    Salvation Army officer
    social worker
    solicitor
    surveyor
    teacher or lecturer
    trade union officer
    travel agent (qualified)
    valuer or auctioneer (fellow or associate members of the incorporated society)
    Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers

    As for the" recognised from photograph" part, these last two months has seen my hairstyle completely change because of a very bad timing of my last cancelled hair appointment and the colour is mysteriously changing! I glanced in the mirror and wondered if it was really me.

    The bigger question is when and where would I next be tempted to use the new passport. Pause while I ponder leaving off the question mark having already stated that the text was a question. The world is not going to suddenly snap back to where it was six months ago. Capitalism has a way of destroying in a moment things which have taken decades to create like transport links and tourist services such as hotels and restaurants. it may be quite a while before people are happy to be herded through security checks and crammed onto whatever aircraft or ferries remain working and affordable.

    Oh heck, we may have to start using that abominable word "staycation"...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Golly. That's a long list, but contains many rather dubious professions! And the only person who might know me well enough and long enough to confirm that a photo is of me would be my dentist.

    I'm wondering whether the passport people will use a recent driving licence photo, in which case, as I renewed my driving licence not very long ago, I can sidestep all this. Not that the Post Office made a great job at capturing my image! The eyes and nose are in the right spots, that's the best you can say.

    Oh well. I suppose I'd better get on with this asap.

    Lucy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Long ago when I was less beautiful my passport photographs were gloriously toned monochrome prints with flashes of blue and burgundy chemical magic, they were well lit with good depth of field and sharpness. Then I went for a bus pass which needed a photograph. I sat across a desk, in a gloomy fluorescent lit office, from a woman who was checking my application form. She swung round her monitor and before I realised what she was doing she claimed to have captured my essence by electronic means. as you say eyes and mouth in right place...

      I do wonder where all the progress we have supposedly made actually is!

      I think you will be lucky if you have an image recorded for driving licence since the government uses their computers to track us and know what you look like for when the face recognition cameras are officially turned on in the streets.

      Delete


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