Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: Passport Photos

Jonny Blair - Tuesday's Travel essentials is passport photos a lifestyle of travel

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials – Passport Photos

Time for the latest Tuesday’s Travel Essentials again. Getting visas becomes a regular part of your travels and therefore a handy tip to save time, money and effort is to always carry passport photos. Personally I carry between 12 – 15 of them at any one time. They take up only a small amount of space and save you a hell of a lot of time on borders.

Jonny Blair filling in a Chinese Visa application living a lifestyle of travel

Filling in another application for a Chinese Visa recently – of course I already had my travel pack of passport photos on me!

I know not every country requires a passport photo for their visa application, but why take the risk? You might end up having to pay for a taxi to a photo booth near a border someday just to get into a country. Before you set off, get a set done. It’s easy in most major towns and cities to find out how to get passport photos. Here’s my tip on how to get passport photos cheaply:

– Use your own digital camera (assuming you have one!)

– Get a friend to take a few photos of your head and shoulders only against a white background

– Choose the best one on your laptop (assuming you have one!) and edit it down to the correct size (1.5 x 2 inch) – as a guide 8 of these fit onto a standard photo size (6 x 4 inch)

– Put eight of them together onto a single photo (6 x 4 inch) – see my first photo on this post for example

– Head to a print shop and print a few copies! (or if you’re lucky to have access to a printer – print them yourself on glossy print paper!)

– Get out and see the world!!

Dont stop living a lifestyle of travel Suriname Visa

Getting my Suriname Visa in 2011 was difficult enough without the extra stress of having to find a passport photo booth in Caracas!

It’s not just for visas you will need a photo, don’t forget. Some employers need them, some flats require a residents card and even some tour groups may need them (North Korea for example). So get them done before you head on your travels and you’ll have no problems. For the record, the following countries currently require one passport photo for their visa (these are just ones I know from recent experiences, there are tons of others!!):

– Suriname

– China

– Vietnam

– Laos

– Cambodia

Safe travels!!

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you want to check out my travel timeline, head here. and my inspiration on how I manage to live a lifestyle of travel.

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