When I First Received my Passport

I applied for my first US Passport book for international travel; nothing could have prepared me for what I'm about to tell you. When it comes to something I really want, I'm not the best person to have patiences. With the United States opening up for Passport application services on the day I went to apply I was nervous as it was. But my boyfriend I think is even more nervous than I. You see we are engaged and we want to marry at Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. I never thought it would take this long. It feels like an eternity to be waiting this long even longer for us to get this far in our lives.

Here is what I have learned about getting my first Passport Book:

1: Make sure you have all of your documents: If you don’t have these documents and everything all together they reject your application before it is even sent off. Have in hand the money order, passport photo verified by the US department of States standards, original birth certificate, licenses, and remember when your parents birthdays because if you don’t sometimes you gotta call your Mommy whom you haven’t spoken to in a very long time.

2: Prepare for a grueling wait: This waiting process has been a pain in the ass for me. I waited four years for this moment. I know how it feels. But the moment of truth is waiting for the moment wondering if all your paperwork has meant the standards of the US Department of States. And the constant worry will I ever get the hell out of her feelings.

3: While waiting for the passport book keep busy: While the patience is bothering me with the wait process I keep busy doing everything and anything I can to put it out of my mind. I write, I work on my book, I do my laundry which honestly is starting to pile up.

4: Make sure you expedite your passport: and for effectiveness make sure you pay for overnight fees as well even though you’re on a limited income. It’s worth it in the end just to hold the golden ticket to freedom.

5: When you can’t stop thinking: When you can’t think of what to do first watch HBO max, Amazon Prime, Freeform, or ABC live stream for epic adventures.

6: Watch the classics: Keep yourself even more busy, you find yourself thinking about what you desire. Watch more TV, keep your mind at bay, even start more short stories and work late night anything from checking obsessively at the Passport Application Status which is impossible lately to do.

7: Listen to music: Sing at the top of your lungs while cleaning, or doing stuff it keeps your spirits up and the nervousness of waiting at bay.

8: Sometimes you just gotta say something: When you can’t think straight anymore and start dreaming about backpacking through rainforests or fighting off people in Customs you know that you are ready to travel. When you see him waiting for you in the terminal just as eager as you in your dreams, you run to him. Then the damn dog wakes you up and your pillow is wet with drool. (hehehe!)

9: Sometimes cuddles are in order: Sometimes it’s time to just cuddle, and exercise with relaxation with yoga and meditation.

10: It happens when you least expect it: Suddenly the mail person walks up to the front door leaving with you the mail. When you pick it up, seeing a huge ass envelope you open the huge envelope revealing your first time passport book, and birth certificate as a government issued check from over paying.

And that’s what you need to know about when you get your first Passport Book after a whole year in an epidemic.