It is now officially our one year wedding anniversary. We were supposed to be on a plane headed towards the Bahamas today to celebrate a wonderful first year. Sadly, we have canceled our trip.
I’ve been planning this trip for weeks and even took Thursday and Friday off to run last minute errands in preparation for our vacation. This morning I made a tediously detailed checklist and happily checked each item off as we packed our suitcases. Mr. Spider joked that I should take pictures of my checklist and our perfectly packed suitcases so I could blog about how insane I am. As we were going over the last few items, he opened my passport to laugh at my picture and then turned to me and said “uh oh.” Uh oh. Turns out my passport expired three months ago.
We hit the internet and started calling our airline in desperate hope that there was a grace period or any leniency or exceptions. It didn’t take long for us to find out that effective, October 1, 2007, any travel outside of the U.S. requires a valid passport and that the allowance of a U.S. birth certificate was no longer accepted. You cannot imagine how upset I became. Mr. Spider called our travel agent and had her activate the insurance we bought. The funny thing is, we almost never buy travel insurance but our travel agent convinced us, calling it our “broken nail” policy (if you break a nail and want to cancel the trip, you can at any time).
Mr. Spider was very nice about the whole thing and started unpacking his bags almost immediately while I sat and cried for an hour. Then I also went and unpacked my suitcase. Sigh. I don’t even know if I should go to work on Monday. We might try to plan another trip after I renew my passport so I need to save the vacation days.
You can’t even imagine how I feel right now. We keep our passports in a drawer and never look at them. The last time I used my passport was on our honeymoon and I didn’t even notice then that it was due to expire this year. I feel like I ruined everything and we will always remember how I colossally effed up our first anniversary.
The morale of this sad tale: if you plan on traveling outside of the US any time soon, please check your passport’s expiration date. I wish I would have taken just a second to check mine.
That’s heartbreaking - I’m so sorry to hear that!! It’s ridiculous that the world has come to this - that your passport expiration date is stopping you from a wonderful anniversary trip with your husband. ARG!! Well, I guess this will just add to the experience of whatever trip you plan once you get your renewed passport back…
Oh, I am so sorry! I cannot even imagine how disappointed you must be. But take heart, you still get to celebrate your first anniversary (yay!) and when you do finally get to the Bahamas, it will be that much sweeter!
that really sucks. maybe you can have an impromptu trip to hawaii or fly to california instead?
Ah, I am so sorry to hear! Hope you find other ways to celebrate your anniversary with your hubby.
I was just chit-chatting with a friend about this…and apparently changing your name on your passport doesn’t automatically renew it, either. She had to sit out on a trip to Paris because her passport expired a month before, but she thought she had renewed it when she changed her name on it to her married name. So, ladies, triple-check everything!
It’s always a good idea to have a current passport….even if you don’t think you have a need for travel. You never know when emergencies might come up and you will need to travel abroad. Most passports are valid for ten years so luckily it’s not too difficult to keep a valid one and will only need to be reneweed a few times in the average person’s lifetime. Sadly, with all of the security checks neccessary and the security enchanced printing to renew a passport it just isn’t possible to do one in 24 hours unless you are getting a temporary one at a U.S. Embassy for a one time trip back to the U.S.
Thanks for posting this…I’m sorry your trip didn’t work out but it’s a very good reminder/warning for people to always be aware of when their passport expires.
Oh wow… that must been so frustrating… especially when all is done and being excited about the whole thing.
I am so sorry… hope you can celebrate your one year in a way you will always remember!
Awww - I’m sorry to hear about your plans!! I am sure your next trip will be even sweeter though!
Poor thing you….don’t worry about it. You both will laugh about it in a couple of weeks. Enjoy your anniversary anyways - maybe you could do a 2-3 day weekend getaway drive somewhere out of town. Maybe a bed and breakfast? Cottage in the mountains? etc.
That is awful! Sounds like your hubby is taking it really well though, and thank goodness for your trip insurance! Hopefully years from now you’ll look back and laugh at this?
Oh no!!! I’m so sorry to hear that 
Have you thought about taking a nice trip within the states? I really loved Key West but how about Charleston, Newport, Miami, New Orleans…..there’s a lot of fun towns in the US that would make a great anniversary trip.
I’m so sorry Mrs. Spider! I hope you and Mr. Spider still find a way to enjoy your anniversary. Hopefully you’ll be able to reschedule and still have a great trip.
Good thing you got travel insurance, though. I’ll think twice about gettting it next time I plan a trip.
Awww, I’m sooo sorry!! I would be so disappointed too, but a) good thing you got insurance!! and b) hopefully you can still enjoy your anniversary by maybe taking a local trip? Or just doing something special locally and then doing a real trip later? Anyway, try not to feel too bad about it, and just enjoy your anniversary as much as you can! And congrats!!
Oh I’m so sorry hon! Don’t beat yourself up about it– it was an honest mistake and you guys should still enjoy your anniversary. I vote for getting away to a nearby bed and breakfast for a couple days. That sounds like just the ticket.
Thanks for all the supportive comments!
I just called the New York Passport Agency and the next available appointment isn’t until Friday, October 12, 2007!!! We definitely have to reschedule our trip for another time. =(
Mrs. Spider
Don’t worry about making an appointment!!!
Just go!! (That is if you still want it ASAP)
I couldn’t find my passport and I was about to pay a crazy amount of money to get my passport in one day by a third party until I was informed that you don’t have to make an appointment. Just go early so that your one of the first in line!
I got mine the day before I flew out to my sister’s wedding =0)!!! I went there in the morning and had my passport in my hand around 1 pm ! (Granted I went there b4 they opened to wait)
Anyway, I heard that with the the high number of request, they don’t even follow the “appointment schedule”
I went to the Philly passport agency but I heard that the NY was operating the same way.
With the new restrictions effective just October 1, 2007 - you have to have an appointment confirmation number before they even allow you into the New York Passport agency building but if I were really desperate, I’d definitely try to go and crash through haha. Thanks S.
how about using an expediting service? it’ll cost you a couple hundred, but they can get you your passport in 24 hours.
I’m so sorry to hear about your snafu! I totally understand your situation because similar thing happened to me couple of months ago on our first anniversary. I still can’t talk about it because I just start crying. :p But you definitely shouldn’t blame yourself, things do happen. Maybe you can take a lovely holiday trip pre-Christmas?
If I were you I would check again online because it seems to me that they extended the deadline to the end of the year for certain countries because of the backlog, saying that you only need a birth certificate and valid license. And it is possible to get a renewal last minute for emergencies. 
It’s worth a try!
Aww, I’m so sorry Mrs. Spider!!! I know it sucks right now, but I promise you that one day you’ll be able to look back and laugh. Back when my FH and I started dated, we decided to take our first trip together. The plan was to drive from Atlanta to New Orleans, spending the night in Mobile to break up the driving. We get to Mobile after a long day of driving, and attempt to check into the hotel that we’d booked online. They refused to let us check in because neither of us was 21! Ironically enough, it was only a few week’s before FH’s 21st birthday.
We drove around in the dark, not knowing where to go, trying to find anywhere within our broke student budget that we could stay. Unfortunately, the only place we could find was a Motel 6! We laugh about it now, but it was definitely the most disgusting room we’ve ever stayed in! Of course, the next day when we arrived at the beautiful Marriott in the French Quarter, there was absolutely no issue about our age!
Good luck!
Mo, that reminds me of the first time I was supposed to meet his mom. She lived on the eastern side of the state and we had to travel from the western side.
About an hour and a half into the trip, we stopped for dinner and to change drivers. I got in to drive and the car just quit on us…in the intersection. We weren’t familiar with the city at all, so we called his family to see if they knew a place we could go to stay the night. I guess it wasn’t that popular of a town because no one had any suggestions.
We ended up picking a motel out of the yellow pages base on how pretty the name was and how the ad looked. It was so nasty that we slept in our clothes, used our jackets for pillows, and avoided the bathroom. There was an inch gap between the door and the door jam and the lock had been moved several times. We put the oldest, heaviest thing (the TV) in front of it and tried to sleep to the sound of truck drivers and sirens. I was honestly expecting a scene from Four Rooms.
We joke about it now, but it was a sore spot for a while. Oh, and it turns out his aunt and uncle live in the city where we broke down…something his family forgot to mention at the time.
truly heartbreaking! but hopefully hundreds of girls are checking their expiration dates…here I go to check mine…so sorry to hear this happened to you
so sorry to hear about that! my partner and i were supposed to go to the Dominican Republic for a long-planned weekend getaway and when that didn’t happen (he checked in literally two minutes too late), i was totally heartbroken. I hope you can take another trip soon!
Oh Miss Spider, I know you must be feeling crushed! I’m so glad you got the insurance and I think you should start planning your next trip IMMEDIATELY!
If I makes you feel any better my husband, the university professor, missed a super-important conference in Italy b/c when he got to the airport, he presented MY passport instead of his (him: dark hair/beard/perfect vision, me: blond/glasses/no rampant facial hair as long as I keep the eyebrow-plucking up-to-date) AND I had repeatedly asked hum to double check everything since he had forgotten his drivers license the last time we had tried fly somewhere!
I know it’s too late now, but you CAN get a passport in a few hours if it’s an emergency, classified as “travelling outside the US within 2 weeks.” I was at the check-in desk on my way to Jamaica when they told me my passport had been “mutilated” and wasn’t valid anymore. I waited outside the passport office for over an hour until they opened, showed them my itinerary saying I was due to leave that afternoon, and four hours and $167 later, I had a brand new passport. So it CAN be done, it’s just a huge hassle. You need all your documentation just like getting a new passport, plus new photos, but you can get it done.
Mrs. Spider, New York
Age and Occupation: 27, Paralegal
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Advisor Research
Engagement Date: December 30, 2005
Wedding Date: October 2006
Venue: Jericho Terrace - Long Island, NY
About Me: My favorite parts of wedding planning are DIY projects and figuring out ways to incorporate old traditions into a modern affair.
How awful! I’m sorry to hear about your canceled trip and I hope you’ll be able to make it to the Bahamas soon. The new passport laws wouldn’t be so stupid if it was possible to renew in 24 hours or less. It shouldn’t be this hard.