Now this sounds like a great idea to me. But I am against borders anyway...
Daryl, how does this work in practice? Is there really totally free travel between countries??
"Schengen countries
The following countries are part of the Schengen Agreement:
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic."
I'm not Daryl, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn...
Last time I was across the pond I had to show my passport to immigration at the Frankfurt Airport, the traveled through The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France & Switzerland with no passport control.
That was just on arrival in Germany from the US wasn't it?
When I was in Costa Rica and traveled to Nicaragua it took an hour to get through, and that was with the help of a guide. I can't imagine how long the local took, they were lined up hundreds deep..
It just didn't make sense to me, like between us and Canada and Mexico, now we have to have a passport??
Don
> That was just on arrival in Germany from the US wasn't it?
Correct
> It just didn't make sense to me, like between us and Canada and Mexico, now we have to have a passport??
Even though you didn’t need a passport to cross the US/Canada border in the past, there was still a border crossing with immigrations and customs. Here is picture from Wikipedia of a road crossing from Austria to Germany
and here's the Costa Rica - Nicaragua crossing, but without the crowds. This was the exit point from CR
May need the right hat around the border
When we were in Nice/Monte Carlo, we drove right into Italy on what was the equivalent of the interstate, and came back through some local road, and each time, no border control at all, except for a rest stop on the "interstate".
During the Depression the L.A. Police Chief actually sent LAPD officers to several entry points on the California border to encourage the rif-raf to stay out. I think they even went up to the Oregon border.
I crossed over to Canada twice when I was in Buffalo. I did not have a passport. I did have my Birth Certificate and DL and both the USA and Canada were fine with those two documents, but I should note I also have "connections" at the US Border that not most people have that made it smooth for me. B-)
Travel across borders is getting easier in Europe with no border checks at all between many countries. Why is USA to Canada getting harder? You do not need a passport, but at least a "Enhanced Driver's License" ($40) or " Enhanced ID" ($30). When I was a kid, we would make day trips to Canada and had a lot of fun. I should take my kids, but between the $340 for IDs and all the questions I would get about having so many kids stuffed into my van, it's not worth it. Relax the USA/Canada border!
