Monday, June 25, 2007

it's everywhere you want to be

So I'm reasearching visas. No easy task at the moment. I think it has as much to do with my frame of mind right now as anything.

The State Department's website on visa requirements to other countries is very nice... It tells me whether I actually need a visa, but it's not particularly helpful about which kind.

Then there are the websites for each foreign consulate. Those make a little more sense until I get to the part about the length of my stay. So, if I want to be in the European Union for less than 90 days, I don't need a visa. But, if I want to be there longer, I can get one that will last me 90 days. Riiiiight.

I'm willing to admit that I may not know what I'm doing here. Maybe. I'm also willing to hear any suggestions. Who knows where I can find better answers? Or, perhaps even better, who has some tips to get around these procedures? I'd love to border-hop every three months if that's what I needed to do, except that seems to be tougher in today's Europe.

Ok, here I go, in search of online help forums and books about globe-trotting. But in the meantime, if any of you out there have even the smallest piece of advice, it may prove a useful gateway to better answers. Fire away!

4 comments:

Monster Librarian said...

Sorry that the site did not help much...did you try calling a specific embassy or whatever...? I would think that they might be able to answer the whole travelling through the Euro Union debate...that is why I thought that site was helpful. I guess I suck as a librarian..."Oh God, Oh Billy!!!!!!!!"

TSOldtimer said...

Oh, my friend! You ARE NOT a bad librarian! Those links are a good start. I think I do need to call the consulate and see if they can help me more. I was just having a rough night. Thanks for the concern!

Monster Librarian said...

ok...and remember if you sneak into and out of those countries you probably don't need to show anyone any visas!

Kt said...

Talking to embassies is paaainful... at the least the ones I've talked to. I've no experience getting European visas on my own, so no good advice to share. But I might recommend you look into BritRail and EuroRail passes if you plan on doing a lot of country hopping. They're much cheaper if you buy them here in the US before you go, and they're bloody useful once you get there.

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