Travel extras
WASHINGTON -- The State Department's new passport cards, which are wallet-sized identification cards designed to speed border crossings by United States citizens to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, are proving popular already.
More than 350,000 Americans have pre-ordered the passport cards, according to the State Department. The card is not valid for any type of air travel. It can only be used for land and sea crossings between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean.
Beginning in June 2009, travelers will be required to present documents proving both citizenship and identity when entering the U.S. through a land or sea border. For Americans who drive to Canada or Mexico or cruise regularly to the Caribbean, the passport card is a cheaper, more portable alternative to a conventional passport book.
Passport cards are good for 10 years and cost $45 ($35 for children under 16). Applications can be made at any passport-processing site. If you already have a passport but want the card anyway because of the convenient size or quick scanning, it's only $20 and can be ordered by mail. For details on how and where to get a passport card, visit www.travel.state.gov.
BERKELEY, Calif. -- In an effort to get travelers off the beaten path and support destinations in developing countries, a group called Ethical Traveler has published a list of the "10 best ethical destinations."
To create the list, Ethical Traveler looked at environmental protection, social welfare and human rights in the world's developing nations. The honorees on the Ethical Traveler's list are Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Namibia, Nicaragua and South Africa.
For more details, visit www.ethicaltraveler.org.
AP