Travel Agents, airlines and travel related websites are always reminding travellers to ensure they have sufficient space in their Passports for the travel they intend to undertake, while Embassies and Consulates also stipulate minimum expiry dates on travel documents before they will issue visas.
I’ve suddenly found myself planning an unexpected overseas trip (departure less than 4 weeks), and had a mild panic attack about whether or not I had enough pages to cover the entire journey which will include 4 countries over a period of 3 months.
A quick check confirmed I was on page 23 of a 34 page Passport with page 1 (a ‘stampable’ page) unused and only a couple of small gaps on the following 22 pages, so in this instance I needn’t have worried.
On some trips I have taken in recent years I have passed through several countries where my Passport was checked but I collected no stamps at all, and I think this trend has given me a false sense of ‘passport longevity’.
It got me wondering how other travellers have fared at border posts where they’ve suddenly found themselves with only a page or two left and even worse, just a few gaps spread through their Passport.
One thing I have noticed over many years (I’m on my 5th 10 year Passport), is that where in years gone by Immigration Officers seemed to wield their stamps randomly on any page, these days they actually seem to fill each consecutive page and are conscious of not leaving too many gaps. Is it just me, or can others read their current Passport like a travel diary with a reasonably accurate time-line ?
