A passport to stray outside the box

In the summer I rather stupidly mislaid my passport – in fact I think I accidentally threw it out with the recycling!

It proved to be an expensive mistake and also a huge amount of hassle – I only discovered I had lost it the day before I was due to go away to France for a much-needed break.

Instead the French trip went for a burton and I went to Devon and Cornwall where I rediscovered the delights of holidaying in England, something I suspect more of us will be doing as the credit crunch bites.

Until now I had not realised the hassle involved in applying for a replacement passport – more complicated than a simple renewal.

You need your original birth certificate, parents’ passport details and you need to complete the form without straying from the boxes while ensuring the person counter signing the back of your passport photograph does not stray outside the image either.

Stray just a little outside the box and you are back to square one – in my case another set of photographs and a new form to complete!

I joked with the woman at the post office that it is probably easier to get a British passport if you are a member of al-Qaeda!

Anyway the application has gone off… and it has made me start to think about new destinations particularly as I am heading towards a big 0 in a few weeks’ time.

I recently read an article which referred to actor Daniel Day Lewis who talked about ‘fallow fields’ and taking time out to step back and catch up with yourself, live life and have experiences.

And that has struck a chord with me. If now is not the time to stray outside of the box and catch up with myself, when is?