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SoftDev90 t1_ja27cyz wrote

Reply to comment by iTwango in TIFU by texting my ex-wife by LaVieEnRoseLavelle

Enhanced Drivers License. To get my kids into Canada or Mexico, all I need is their birth certificates. We live in Michigan on the border of CA, so we drive over quite a lot.

https://www.dhs.gov/enhanced-drivers-licenses-what-are-they

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NC_Vixen t1_ja2hqba wrote

I won't lie, you Americans are something else.

Like bruh, being from Australia, I literally can't go anywhere without a passport. It's just standard to have a passport for your child and renew it when it expires. People not having a passport is literally not a thing, bar the handful of people who are like "I will never leave the country guaranteed".

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LynnSeattle t1_ja2kc06 wrote

There are a couple reasons for this. The US is large enough that a person can travel extensively without crossing a border. Also, employees in the US rarely have enough paid vacation time to take long vacations.

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NC_Vixen t1_ja2trh1 wrote

Oh bro, I've been, great place, loved it. 10/10 back next Jan.

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iTwango t1_ja3ngl1 wrote

Where in the US have you visited? Glad you liked it :)

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SoftDev90 t1_ja47bar wrote

I get 3 weeks paid vacation a year. I could travel overseas if I wanted, but since my driver's license let's me into Mexico, Canada, and the Caribean by land or sea travel, there's plenty to explore without a passport that I don't feel held back by not having one. Of course if I ever wanted to fly to somewhere in one of those places, I'd need to get one, but I'd know enough ahead of time to go and get one if that was the case :)

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Late_Advice_9793 t1_ja4g499 wrote

Yeah the only reason I have a passport is because my parents are immigrants lol 😂

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HelenaBirkinBag t1_ja5cq05 wrote

Australia is huge. Nine hours from Sidney to Melbourne by car, if memory serves me.

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framejunkie t1_ja3cwdq wrote

We have many places to go within the US that are so different, it's like you leaving your country for a holiday, except we don't have to change currency or worry about international bank fraud. I live in California, have family in Hawaii. It's like traveling to another country both in weather and how they treat import/export of agricultural items and the culture and way of life, except everything I need to work domestically like money withdrawals or credit card charges work without fees, and I'm still protected by the rules and laws of the US Constitution and all the security and legal apparatus we have. It's a pretty nice secure feeling knowing the same general rules and freedoms apply to me anywhere I go in this country.

Going from west to east coast is a major cultural difference, and even up and down the east coast or across the Midwest or the deep south, or even panhandle versus southern tip of Florida is different everywhere. New things to see and experience like accents, new immigrant communities and histories, new foods, new national or state parks, festivals, drive for 1000 miles in a day if you want to just for the sake of seeing the countryside, you name it. All of that stuff without having to pay for a passport and international plane tickets. We are spoiled in this way.

I do love going abroad, but have no money to do that anymore so I stay in country.

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newnails t1_ja3qwjm wrote

Europeans can go to 5 different countries in a weekend without needing a passport. Not sure why you guys don't have an agreement with NZ tbh

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HelenaBirkinBag t1_ja5ck4l wrote

To be fair, there are plenty of Aussies like that. I dated one.

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