As of today, new rules are in effect if you want to travel between the United States and Canada or Mexico. Basically, you must have with you a valid passport or a special driver’s license with you when crossing the border. This is the last step in a gradual increase in border crossing rules. Recommendations after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 were made to increase border security, and this is the last measure to be enacted.
Public opinion is split on the issue. Some feel it will cause unnecessary headaches at the border. Others find it dangerous that it had taken this long for security measures to be put in place. Read more…
I’m a Canadian and I fell for an American on a weekend trip to the south during Christmas. I was operating the scoreboard and he was working the basketball court. I didn’t plan for it to happen, it just did. We have been dating ever since and we’ve never dealt with any cultural, language or currency issues that we couldn’t handle…except when it came to physically crossing the border.
My Michigan man use to come and pick me up at a Canadian train station and when we crossed together no one would believe we were dating. We had to answer all types of question from where we met to answering the exact day and year that the other was born! I was more nervous when it came to crossing the border than I ever was when I met his parents.
From an experienced cross-country voyageur, a passport really does help the border crossing process go faster. If you don’t already have one, you should check out these websites to find out what you need, where you need to go and who you need to speak with. Here’s the link you need to go to if you’re from Canada, the U.S.A. or the U.K.
Things have gotten easier for us since we always cross at the same crossing. Some of the crossing guards even recognize us and will probably notice if we break up, but for those with a budding relationship with that hottie from spring break, know that there are ways to get to your honey quicker and faster…just don’t forget his birthday!
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