Get a Passport and You Could Be This Cute, Too

By Anonymous in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 22, 2005 2:51PM

Hey, do you have a passport? If so, you're in the minority here in the U.S. Only 23% of Americans have a passport. If you're one of the other 77%, then travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet wants your attention. They recently put together a fun little book called Don't Let the World Pass You By!: 52 Reasons to Have a Passport. To be completely honest, it's a little didactic for our tastes (especially the "Be An Ambassador" admonition-cloaked-in-a-compliment not to be an "ugly American"), but it makes for good bathroom reading and sure does make us want to, uh, shit or get off the pot, so to speak. (Let's just keep that expression to ourselves when, say, waiting in line at the ufficio postale in Italy.) It would also make a great gift for a quarter- or mid-life crisis experincee or graduate of something, especially if accompanied by some plane tickets.

Best of all, Lonely Planet is throwing a party this weekend to encourage would-be world travelers and celebrate September, newly coined National Passport Month (it's also National Preparedness Month, National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Sports and Home Eye Safety Month, National 5 A Day Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month, in case you were wondering). Aaaanyway, the Passport to the World Festival will be at Park West Saturday night and will feature songwriter/filmmaker/activist Michael Franti and other world-aware musicians, including Karsh Kale, Ying Yang Yang Ying, and local act Goran Ivanovic Group. Lonely Planet writers and other travel experts will also be on hand to inspire your envy and emulation and you can "experience the sights and sounds of world travel in the Lonely Planet Lounge." While you're there, get your passport photo taken and pick up an application. So you can go to Indonesia and say something wonderfully exotic like Maaf, Nona. Ada bebek di atas kepala anda.*

Lonely Planet’s Passport to the World Festival
September 24, 2005
The Park West, 322 W. Armitage
18 & over / 9pm / $15

*"Excuse me, Miss. There's a duck on your head." page 93, Reason #24