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Guy Crosses US-Canada Border with an iPad in Place of a Passport

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:

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Nationality of Baby Born Aboard Philippines Airlines Flight Remains 'Up In The Air'

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.

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Passport Day is Back! Set Aside Some Time This Saturday, September 17

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.

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Forget Generation X; Aussie Passports Now Welcoming Gender X

"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."

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Learn From Our Mistakes: A Passport's Best Friend Should Be Silica Gel

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.

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Speaking of...Passport Day Will Happen After All! Mark Your Calendars for September 17

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.

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Turns Out, More Americans Are On Facebook Than Have Passports

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.

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Three Things You Need to Know to Get Through London-Heathrow's Passport Control

See the photo above? On the left hand side, can you spot the long, blue sign that simply states "UK Border?" That's the spot all these people want to get past, why they've flown from points all over the globe to end up in a mash of cultures at London-Heathrow Airport. Granted the line should rarely be this long—we snapped it during this month's great UK union strike—but if you're arriving into LHR in the early morning, be prepared for some decent Kindle-reading time in line.

For frequent London visitors, the occasional mess of Heathrow is expected. We've long accepted the fact that the passport control agents will grill us with about 5-10 questions before allowing us to set one foot in the precious United Kingdom, but for first-timers, a nervous breakdown could be around the corner.

We say this because it happened to a friend just this morning (UK time) and after 4.5 hours of dealings, this London newbie finally crossed under the UK Border sign and into the city. What went wrong? Well, nothing really. There's just a few things you must know about LHR:

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Want a Passport? Get Ready to Answer Some Insane Questions

The State Department is developing something of a habit of making it harder to get passports. First they cancelled Passport Day because of a government shutdown that never happened. We can look past that, since no one knew how the budget deadline would play out until literally the last minute.

But now they're publishing a revamped biographical questionnaire that seems almost impossible to fill out. We've got more details on the new form below but—just to give you a preview of the punchline—State is insisting that it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to fill out. Keep that in mind as you read what they're asking for.

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Update: Tomorrow's Passport Day Has Been Cancelled

Update 2pm, April 8: The State Department announced only 30 minutes ago that Passport Day 2011 will no happen because of the pending government shutdown. There is currently no word on a rescheduled date, but we'll keep our ears open for more news.

What are you doing this weekend? Aside from running on a runway, of course. Hopefully if you're reading this, you've already got a passport and just need a slew of extra pages inserted, or perhaps an entirely new passport if yours is inching up on its expiration date. We won't give you a dirty look if you've never had a passport, but only if you promise to hit tomorrow's Passport Day and correct that.

Passport Day returns this year as a way 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. Offices around the country—check out the full list of participating branches HERE—will stay open from 10am to 3pm and will not require appointments.

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Get Your Documents in Order: Passport Day is April 9

It's baaaack! National Passport Day will for a third year, after the successes that had lines going around the block to do official passport business on a Saturday. Mark you calendars and cancel any fun weekend plans you had, because this second annual Passport Day will be April 9.

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.

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Rick Steves Will Pay for the Passports of Travel Newbies

Travel virgins, Rick Steves wants to deflower you. The travel expert will foot the bill of your very first passport, which usually goes for $135, to get you to go overseas.

Steves wants to encourage first-time jet-setters to go outside of America's borders, boasting the "life-changing, perspective-broadening value of travel" on his website. Of course, he isn't just going to fork over the money. The deal is only good for those who take one of Steves' 2011 tours. The tours, which attract 10,000 travelers a year, schlep all over Europe, including Scandinavia, Russia, Spain, England, Germany, Greece and Italy.

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