(Study Abroad) Passport Copies

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1. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of making photocopies of your passport. Your passport is your ticket to safe travel around Costa Rica, but it is also the most difficult item to replace if you lose it. I had three photocopies of my passport, and was thus able to keep my passport safely locked in my desk for the duration of my time in Heredia.



Two instances stand out to me as perfect demonstrations of why having copies of your passport is important. The first instance was on a bus ride returning from Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. I was dozing uncomfortable with my head bouncing against the window when I heard the bus brakes squealing and felt the bus coming to a stop. I opened my eyes and saw a police checkpoint ahead. The police boarded the bus, and all foreigners had to produce a passport to prove that they were in Costa Rica legally. They accepted my photocopy without any problems. However, if I had been without a passport I would have been taken to jail immediately. I would have had to sit in jail until someone from USAC figured out where I was and could bring proof that I was legally in the country. This happened to a girl during term prior to mine, and she was locked up for two days before USAC got her out.



So why not just carry your regular passport? Because you could easily lose it, there is a huge blackmarket demand for stolen passports, and it often takes over two weeks to replace. After my study abroad session I lived in Costa Rica for an additional five weeks and was backpacking Costa Rica’s highest mountain, Cerro Chirripo, with two friends. We were checking into a lodge near the summit and had to produce our passports to stay there. My friend began to act frantic, throwing things out of his bag. He couldn’t find his passport. Luckily, the lodge owner was kind and let my friend sleep there anyways, but this was small consolation. My friend was supposed to leave Costa Rica in two days. If he got stopped by the police he would probably be taken to jail. He emailed the U.S. consul and was told that he would have to wait two weeks for a new passport. He would have to buy a new plane ticket, and he would lose his job that he was supposed to start upon return to the States. Needless to say he was very stressed out. This conundrum hung over him the entire hike, even as we stood at 12,000 feet and were the highest things in Costa Rica. After reaching the summit he ran 13 miles to the base of the mountain and tore our hostel room apart searching for the passport. Luckily, it was underneath his mattress. But what if it hadn’t been? This entire situation could have been avoided if he had simply brought a copy with him and left his official copy in a safe place. I heard many other passport freakout stories during my time in Costa Rica, but all of my travels were comfortable and carefree with my passport locked up safely at home.

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