Clearly, that can be a hefty hunk of change, but it conveniently ignores one fact: Your passport is valid long after your sail-and-sign card no longer works at the bar. (For travelers 16 or over, they’re good for 10 years; for those 15 and younger, five years.) Keep traveling and that “premium” eventually works out to about the price of a couple of piña coladas.

The inconvenience argument is even shakier since there are approximately 8,000 places in the country that accept passport applications, including many post offices, libraries, and city halls. Many are open after 5 p.m., some have Saturday hours, and if you fill out the forms beforehand, the whole process can take 10 minutes or less. (For forms and more information, go here.

Finally, there are those who argue that the pending deadline will force people to pay even more ($60) for expedited service. Maybe so, but as a guy who has had his daughter’s completed forms on his desk for three months, but only turned them in two weeks ago, blaming anybody else for my procrastination seems a bit like bellyaching.

Trouble in transit
Honestly, I have only one issue with the whole situation. The regulations that were set to go into effect in January applied across the board — everybody was expected to have a passport, whether they were traveling by airplane, cruise ship, or VW minivan.

The latest version takes a more piecemeal approach that’s inconsistent, potentially inequitable, and likely to cause more, not less, confusion at the border this winter. We certainly don’t need any more of that.

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So, that’s why I took my daughter down to city hall to get her passport a few weeks ago. She smiled for the camera, I wrote the checks (one for the passport, another for the photos), and the nice lady behind the counter took care of the rest. As it turned out, the regs changed a week later, so she may not need one after all.

Even so, I’m glad we did it. I’m glad to have one less thing to worry about if the regulations change again. And I’m glad my daughter will have a passport, whether she needs it now or not, because I know that someday she will.

A passport is more than just proper ID; it’s a step toward becoming a true traveler.

Rob Lovitt is a frequent contributor to MSNBC.com. If you have feedback for Rob, send him an e-mail.

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