Passport Tag : A Fun Travel Game To Play

For a fun video that we could make in the comfort of our Thai apartment here in Chiang Mai, we decided to participate in a series called passport tag where you answer travel questions related to your passport stamps and visa.

Recently, Audrey watched a video from Expat Kerri where she participated in passport tag. Given how much travel we've done this year, we figured we'd join in and create our own video.

The questions were as follows:

1. What is your most recent stamp?
2. What was your first stamp?
3. What's your coolest looking stamp?
4. What's the most meaningful stamp?
5. What was the most difficult stamp to get?

Our most recent stamp was just a few days ago as we had to do a Visa run to Myanmar to extend our Thai visas. The journey was as expected (we've done this before): we crammed into a packed minivan, rode on a serpentine road (with a kamikaze driver) and played tipsy toes over an artificially created line. It was a full day affair; we left early in the morning and by the time we got back to Chiang Mai is was close to 6 pm. Why on earth a better system isn't in place for these types of formalities is beyond my comprehension. One of the passengers was more than a bit nutty. I explain more in the video and I plan to write a full post on the experience, so I won't go into too much detail here.

My first stamp, many moons ago, was in Japan. Prior to teaching English in South Korea, I went on a two month trip to Japan/Korea in the summer of 2004 to see if I wanted to pursue a lifestyle of teaching and traveling abroad. This trip was instrumental in planting the seeds for a nomadic lifestyle. Had I not gone I might be sitting behind a counter in Canada counting pills, as I originally planned on being a pharmacist if you can believe that.

Recently, my coolest looking stamp was the Visa I got for Laos. It's a classy looking stamp and given that Laos is one of my favorite countries in SE Asia this was an easy one to pick.

My most meaningful stamp was a recently minted one in Turkey. Having the opportunity to finally explore Istanbul was a dream come true. I've wanted to visit Turkey for well over a decade; moreover, it lived up to the hype and I got to spend time with my two favorite ladies: Audrey and my Mom.

The most difficult stamp for me to obtain was my Visa for Bangladesh. Although the procedure to get the Visa wasn't overly arduous getting to Dhaka from Kolkata certainly was. On the most crazy bus trip of my life I finally made it to Dhaka having felt lucky to have survived the journey. Traveling in Bangladesh, where one will encounter some of the friendliest locals on earth, certainly more than made up for it. I'd definitely go back again but most certainly I would fly as opposed to taking the bus.

How about you? I'm really curious to know about your passport and travel experiences in relation to the five questions above. Please let me know in the comments section:



Proudly presented by: , , &

All photos and video taken by Samuel Jeffery (Nomadic Samuel) and Audrey Bergner (That Backpacker).