Travel Troubles: What To Do When You Lose Your Passport Abroad

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As someone who used to interview Americans who lost their passports overseas, I'll add a few points here. First, the reason why some Americans are greeted with suspicion after losing their passports is that U.S. passports are worth a lot of money on the black market in many countries, and unfortunately, some Americans do "lose" their passports to get paid. If you've never lost a passport before, you won't usually get a very hard time, but if you lose passports habitually, you will get a very hard time.

Also, people launder their passports more than they lose them, so my #1 tip is to avoid keeping your passport in your pockets because if it go through the wash, it's usually not going to be useable afterward. One more tip: if you need extra pages in your passport, it's much easier and faster to request them at an embassy or consulate overseas than it is to get them in the U.S.

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