I interrupted my lovely month in Germany with a brief trip home. How brief? Less than 12 hours in LA. Consider this a trip report within a trip report, a brief journey home to retrieve a delayed passport because I did not trust leaving it to anyone else…
13,000 Miles. 48-Hours. A Trip From Germany To LA To Pick Up A Delayed Passport
Ever since we dealt with the whole police clearance certificate fiasco in South Africa nearly eight years ago, I’ve been reluctant to entrust important documents to others. While the postal strike in that case may have represented exceptional circumstances, I see FedEx and UPS packages delayed all the time. Just last week a friend sent me a parcel via overnight and FedEx ultimately delivered it three days later.
Some backstory. Shortly after my daughter was born, we obtained German passports for both of my children from the German Consulate in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, we submitted the application for my daughter’s U.S. passport, paying the expedite fee so we’d have the passport in time for our summer in Germany.
While the German passport only took a week to arrive, four weeks later the U.S. passport still had not arrived. We had to depart without it. Three weeks later, it finally arrived (yes, the expedite fee got me the passport in seven weeks…though I understand that processing times have since improved).
We had about 10 days before a planned trip to Spain and from Spain we would travel directly back to the United States. Even though my daughter is a U.S. citizens and has traveled to the USA before without a passport (that merits a separate post), that is a complicated process. Dual citizens must use their U.S. passports to enter the USA, so using her German passport was not an option.
Thus, I decided to fly home and get it. But I wanted to make the most of the trip home and review a new product. A friend of mine was in Vienna so we decided to meet there and then I’d fly Austrian Airlines home, grab the passport, and fly back on United Airlines to London then connect on SWISS to Zurich (I would have flown into Basel on British Airways, but flights were not operating at that time).
So this week I will work my way through the trip report within a trip report, covering the following segments, hopefully at a rate of two per day:
- Haunting: Police Chase In Frankfurt Leads To Horrific Crash
- Lufthansa Senator Lounge Frankfurt
- Lufthansa Business Lounge Frankfurt
- Flaunting Woman Struts Up and Down The Aisle On My Austrian Flight
- Review: Andaz Vienna (Suite)
- Austrian Business Lounge Review (Schengen)
- Austrian 777-200 Business Class Vienna – Chicago
- The Delightful Coffee Of Austrian Airlines
- Yankee Pier SFO Update
- Great Coffee SFO Update
- How I Returned To Germany Lickety Split
From the Basel area, I took a train up to Frankfurt and spent the night at the Hyatt Regency Mainz. Deutsche Bahn ICE service now reliably offers wi-fi onboard, which makes the three-hour journey highly productive.
I had dinner with former colleagues in Frankfurt; it is always a joy to catch up with old friends.
The following day, it was onward to Vienna.
This is part of my summer in Germany trip report.
Most people don’t realize this, but Americans can actually get an ESTA in their foreign passports. I did that a few years ago. There is a box to check whether you are a US citizen, I checked yes and it still issued the ESTA. Notified the immigration officer at JFK that I was a US citizen without a passport and spent about 45 minutes waiting for secondary so they could verify my identity. Ideal? No, but certainly far more ideal than paying for special shipping or sending a family member half way around the world to retrieve it.
You do realize he *wanted* to make that special trip :).
Who in his right mind would intentionally interrupt a lovely month in Germany?
I knew we probably could have done it since we did in January, but it was a huge hassle at JFK and I thought the trip was worthwhile to save the hassle.
Very much looking forward to this trip report within a trip report.
I had trouble checking in at dallas for a flight to australia with my son. He’s an Australian and USA citizen but his Aussie passport had expired. Australia was fine with him travelling on the visa but did give me a slight rap on the knuckles. Same thing happened at customs in oz. Had to wait five mins for clearance.
I knew it might be a small issue but they can’t deny a citizen entry. I travelled with his Aussie expired passport and his birth certificate.
It does sound like you were trying to find a reason to get on a flight (don’t blame you!)
Unfortunately Fedex, UPS and DHL are no longer reliable. Had so many issues with them. As for the USPS, I don’t even consider that an option. USPS is disgraceful.
It’s kind of reading a story about first world problems.
All I’m reading is someone wealthy enough to spend weeks abroad and even ‘run home’ for an errand. A non-story, surely, with everything everyday Americans go thorough.
Count your blessings.
First world problem to be sure, but through miles and points you don’t have to be wealthy to travel the world. And many people are working remotely these days – it is hardly a “rich” thing.
So why are you here?
I don’t understand this desire to walk into Louis Vuitton and complain that everyone there is focused on luxury goods. Buzz off.
“So why are you here?” Well Robert because it is his blog…that question would actually make sense if asked about you.
@Scott_Texas, Robert’s post was a reply to Manipedi not to Matthew Klint. (Replies are indented from the post they’re answering.)