“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”!
This was the case for us lately. We had a very nice trip planned for a 10 day visit to Cartagena, Colombia. You know, THE Cartagena where Michael Douglas, Danny Devito, and Kathleen Turner went in the movie ‘Romancing the Stone’. We loved Medellin, Colombia when we visited but Medellin is in the middle of the country in the highlands. We wanted to visit Cartagena that is on the Eastern Coast of Colombia in the south Caribbean.
There is a lot of history in Cartagena. There is the old walled city which is the main tourist draw as well as the stretch along the bay on the Caribbean called Playa de Bocagrande. Also south of there is a rustic beach town called Santa Marta that has the Andes rise up behind it. We were also going to go to Santa Marta but decided to just hit Cartagena on this trip.
I spent a lot of time finding some neat boutique hotels in the walled city and some very nice water front condos on Bocagrande. We finally booked our airlines tickets for 2-3 weeks out on Spirit Airlines. They were 3 hour direct flights from Ft. Lauderdale – perfect. No more masks, no shots, no problem. We started to plan what to take as it would be very hot and humid. I bought a new pair of walking shoes as flip flops on cobblestones could get uncomfortable. We were all ready…we thought!
With 15 days until we leave we were notified by Biden’s the US State Department that under no circumstance were we allowed to leave the country and we were to report to their office in Miami but first needed to call to set an appointment. WHAT IN THE WORLD??? I called the number but It kept saying that due to call volume they couldn’t take our call and we need to call back. I called the number probably 15 times before finally getting through about 9PM. The person said due to their volume I can only make an appointment if I was scheduled to travel within 14 days. I said tomorrow will be 14 days…they said fine, call tomorrow.
Over the next couple days I called over and over and over. I finally got through to a person. I was told we could not leave the country and they set an appointment for 7AM the morning we were scheduled to leave. We knew this would not work and felt we were being jerked around. I asked why we could not travel. The State Department person said there is a very good reason and we needed to come to Miami. I was upset to say the least. I said I was a veteran of over 10 years serving this country in the military and we served for the freedom and privileged to come and go. I wondered if maybe this was harassment since I did not have a ‘rainbow’ ribbon today’s military wants everyone to wear. She, the State Dept Rep, said that had nothing to do with it.
They asked if I was aware that Colombia was on the list of countries where travel was not recommended due to crime/deaths. This I previously checked so was ready to address. I asked the person if Cartagena and for that matter Colombia was any less safe, had any less murders than New York City? Response…’well NO’; any less then Chicago? Response…’ah, NO’; what about Seattle, San Francisco, LA? Each time it was ‘no’ but the person said, ‘but those are in the USA’. I told her that was exactly my point.
She said regardless we still can’t leave the country for now and we needed to be in Miami on the morning of June 5th and plan for the whole day. I again told her that would not work for us since we are scheduled to leave that morning. I asked if we are being held up because we voted for Trump? I told her we are actually registered as Independents though. She said that that didn’t help our cause any but it actually has nothing to do with any voting. She said ‘actually it doesn’t matter who votes for who, we have that all handled now’. I thought I better let that point drop for now.
I was getting pretty mad at this point and told her we are scheduled to leave that day and we need an earlier appointment. If we change our flight we will lose a lot of money. She said that is the earliest available opening at the Miami office and the only other places with earlier openings are in San Juan, PR or El Paso. They have earlier openings. I was angry and said I needed I damn good reason why I can not leave the country when ever I want????
Her response was surprising. She said, ‘oh, you can leave anytime you want. It is your wife who is not allowed to leave’. I said ‘WHAT!!! What possibly did she ever due to not be able to travel? The person on the phone responded, ‘have you looked at the expiration date on her passport lately? See you in Miami. Have a nice day’!
Actually the story above is a bit contrived but for the hassle they make you go through to renew a passport it felt something like this. I called 10-15 times a day, every day for a week hoping for a cancellation so we could schedule an expedited ($$$) appointment that would work. NADA! We ended up paying a bunch to change the flight. Today we mailed the passport renewal papers and it takes 10-13 weeks to get a renewal complete – ridiculous! We had to push our travel time out to late this fall. On the bright side we are not traveling to NYC, Chicago, etc…so we are safe for now.
I also had an expired passport. I delayed sending it in for a new one. By the time I address it at the post office it was about 6 weeks before Ken and I were to leave to Punta Cana in the Dominican Rublic. I was also told I could only call 2 weeks for an appointment for my passport before I was to leave. Sure enough I got an appointment in Miami on the morning before I was to leave. There was a room full of people. Some had flights out that day. They came from Jacksonville, Orlando and else where. It was an organized operation. My appointment was at 10:00am and I had my passport by 1:00. You probaly would have made the flight. They were being very accommodating. So I guess you and Denise are fleunt in Spanish. I am evious. Linda Church
The process seems beyond broken. We will have to talk someday about Punta Cana as that is a place on our list that we consider on visiting. Our appointment was for 7AM in Miami the morning of our 11AM flight out of Lauderdale. No one could tell us how much time we would need except one who said to plan to be there for the day. If our appointment was for the day before we left we would have done on the morning of the flight the risk seemed great that we would not make it. If the airlines would have been less restrictive on the ability to cancel or change flights that would have helped also. Oh well, as always, another lesson learned. Thanks for the response/comment and we hope all is well.