Whoa whoa whoa. We're not even a week into the new year and already stories of stupid travel happenings are hitting the news. The latest? Oh, just that some guy from Montreal managed to cross over the US border by producing not his physical passport, but a scan of his passport displayed on his iPad.

Look, we love iPads as much as (maybe more so?) the next tech-happy traveler, but we draw the line at two things: using the iPad as your main camera and using it as your primary form of ID. Martin Reisch violated the latter when he and his friends drove into Vermont and the border patrol okay-ed him.

Here's what went down, according to the CBC: ]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-04T10:22:49-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/26/54735/9512

Nobody plans to have their baby aboard an international flight, but if Mother Nature has to do her thing then and there it’s hopeful that everything goes as well as possible. One new mother aboard a Philippines Airlines flight on her way to the United States from Manila had a little adventure up in the air, but thankfully all went well during her in-flight delivery. Unfortunately, it’s what happened afterward that’s causing the most difficulty.

Over international waters—about four hours outside San Francisco—the baby decided that it wanted to check out what a long-haul flight was all about. That’s where the complications began. The new mom was planning to have her child in Massachusetts while visiting her sister, so that her new bundle of joy would automatically be a United States citizen. ]]> kjb 2011-09-26T08:30:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/15/6150/47899

So. Uh. What're doing this Saturday, hm? While we'd love to take you out for a drink or two, we're asking because it's actually Passport Day, and if you're needing to get some extra pages added or get a passport at all, now is the time.

This weekend is essentially the rain date, after spring's Passport Day was cancelled due to threat of government shutdown.

This is the third year for the annual National Passport Day, an event created by the State Department to give working men, women and families—who otherwise can't make Passport offices' limited weekday business hours—a chance to turn in their paperwork and deal with passport-related issues. Apply for a new passport, renew one, get extra pages added...whatever. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-09-15T12:33:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/15/61213/5058

"X" marks the spot...for a new gender choice on Australian passport applications. The change was recently made "under new guidelines to remove discrimination against transgender and intersex people," according to MSNBC and the Aussie government.

Think you'll be funny and choose "X" for yourself? Not so fast; this is serious stuff. Intersex people—those biologically not completely either sex—can choose the new option. But if you're just transgender, then be prepared to show a doctor's note to back up your identifying as such. And it'd also be wise to prepare yourself to explain the "X" under "gender" on your Aussie passport when you pass through immigration at certain countries.

That said, a move like this just inches the world ever closer to equality, kinda like when the US altered the old "mother" and "father" fields to just "parent 1" and "parent 2." ]]> JetSetCD 2011-09-15T10:28:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/12/10447/5656

Your passport is valid for 10 years. That's a huge amount of time, definitely enough to go from dork-malork college kid to savvy, suave adult (with a far better complexion) and confuse border agents with the differences between your passport photo and the actual specimen. Lately we've been giving more thought to proper passport care, especially with extra pages added and the need to hold onto the thing for however many more years of showing, stamping, stashing.

Unfortunately our passport's appearance just suffered a blow, courtesy of the crazy-humid air of Southeast Asia.]]> JetSetCD 2011-09-12T16:55:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/25/153432/661

Okay let's try this again. After spring's Passport Day was cancelled due to threat of government shutdown, the annual event was postponed. And now we have a new date! National Passport Day will be back for a third year, lines and all, on Saturday, September 17.

Passport Day was created by the State Department to give working men, women and families—who otherwise can't make Passport offices' limited weekday business hours—a chance to turn in their paperwork and deal with passport-related issues. Apply for a new passport, renew one, get extra pages added...whatever. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-07-25T15:34:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/25/141132/594

Swedish travel startup Tripl is promising to change how travel happens by making vacations more social. They're certainly not the first site to promise something like that, but they are the latest and among the most ambitious—and they seem realistic enough to know that getting users is going to be their biggest challenge.

The site is still in beta but they've already played around with some social media stunts, including sending a 3D camera around the world to film people's holidays. It's not the least intrusive thing we've ever heard of, but if you're gambling on a social media business plan where people share their vacations, it kind of makes sense.

In the meantime the site has put out a bevy of statistics on what they're calling the "social travel revolution," including a huge infographic that's been making the rounds. The result that's getting the most attention is that half of all Americans are on Facebook, while significantly less—50% vs. 37%—have passports. People are sharing their lives digitally, but their lives don't seem to involve going abroad. Suffice to say that as social media users we're impressed, but as travel bloggers we weep.]]> Omri 2011-07-25T14:11:32-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/