The Traveler's Paper Chase

All the boring things you have to pay attention to in order to travel: how to get a passports, apply for travel visas, deal with customs requirements, analyze government travel warning and advisories, and more

When it comes down to it, you really only need three things to go to Europe: (1) a plane ticket, (2) clothing, and (3) a passport.

A valid passport is the only legal form of identification recognized around the world. Your driver's license ain't gonna cut it out there— abroad, it only proves that some U.S. state lets you drive (though you will need that to rent a car).

You cannot cross an international border without a passport. Well, OK, since 1997 you can criss-cross most of Western Europe without flashing it, but you still need it to get in, plus to go to Great Britain and Ireland (it's an insular thing), Switzerland (it's a neutrality thing), and most of Eastern Europe (it's a holdover-from-the-Iron-Curtain-days thing).

Getting a passport is easy, but it takes some time to complete the process. Since all this info is now so readily available on-line, there's little reason for me to rehash it all here—just go to the excellent State Department site (travel.state.gov) and it'll walk you through it. But here are a few pointers:

You'll need two identical passport-size photos (2" X 2"), which you can have taken at any photo shop. You cannot use the strip photos from one of those photo vending machines. Get six to eight total made up. You'll need extras to apply for an International Driving Permit and student or teacher identification cards. Take the rest with you. You'll occasionally need one for random reasons (such as London's Travelcard) on the road and—heaven forbid—if you ever lose your passport, you can use one as a replacement photo.
Keep your passport with you at all times securely in your money belt. The only times to give it up are at the bank for the tellers to photocopy when they change your traveler's checks, at borders for the guards to peruse (this includes giving it to the conductor on overnight train rides), when any police or military personnel ask for it, and briefly to the concierge when you're checking into your hotel (see next).
Hotel front desks, especially in southern Europe, will often want to keep your passport overnight. They have to register you with the police, and they like to pile all the passports in a drawer until the evening so they can do all the guests' slips at once. Smile and ask politely whether they can do their paperwork on the spot or at least let you come by in 15 minutes or so, after you check into your room, freshen up, and are on your way out to hit the town. I always tell them I need it to go exchange money at the bank, whether I'm flush with cash or not.
If you lose your passport on the road, go directly to the nearest U.S. consulate (do not pass go, do not collect $200). Bring all forms of identification you have, and they'll get started on generating you a new passport. Needless to say, this is a hassle that should be avoided at all costs.

Visa—More than Just a Credit Card

A visa is an official stamp or piece of paper granting a foreign national the right to enter a country. (It comes from the French, visée, because back in the day it meant that an official had "looked" over your travel and identification documents—precursors to passports).

A valid passport is the only documentation an American needs to visit any Western European country. Your passport will be stamped wherever you enter Europe with a temporary tourist visa that's good for 90 days of travel within the EU.

If you plan to stay longer in one country, contact that country's consulate in the United States before you leave to get a specific visa, or any U.S. consulate once you are abroad. In practice, they usually don’t care if tourists spend five, six, seven months here.

I've routinely gone over for more than 90 days (on one memorable occasion, for about 18 months) and no one ever questioned me about it. Yes, technically that means I've been an illegal immigrant in Europe many times over, but, well, there you go.

Warning, Warning! Uncle Sam Say "Stay Away!"

A word about State Department Travel Advisories and Warnings. These fear-mongering documents pop up all the time, and if you read enough of them it will make any country sounds like a certain death trap of infectious diseases, venomous animals, radical terrorist groups, and dangerously unstable governments and economies. And that’s just Belgium!

Just kidding. But remember when reading these warnings that well over half of the hazards they list—such as hepatitis, Lyme disease, poisonous snakes and spiders, radical militia groups, or terrorist attacks—are threats or phenomena we already face here at home in the USA, so a place like France is not half as dangerous as these documents can make it sound. To read more on travel warnings and the like, click here.

Resources

US State Department

- This Web site is the best thing the government has ever done for travelers. You can download passport applications, research potential visa requirements, read consular fact sheets and travel warnings on the countries you wish to visit, and find out all about the services available to US citizens abroad. Great set of links to other governmental and non-governmental travel sites, too.

Embassy World

- A nifty little Web site that links you to every embassy and consulate Web site out there, so an Aussie can find not only the Australian consulate in Rome, Italy, but also Italy's consulate in Canberra so he can ring up about visa requirements.

US Embassies

- Direct links to individual US Embassy Web sites around the globe.

Council on International Educational Exchange

- CIEE is the preeminent organization devoted to American students studying abroad (and their professors). Among other services, they issue the official International Student Identity Cards (ISIC) — the only student ID accepted everywhere as proof of student status (many museums and travel agents in Europe will not accept your home university ID).