Passport Inequality, Explained

Imagine that we lived in a world where you weren't allowed to leave your home country

that traveling abroad was illegal. This would be the reality for everyone if we didn't have passports

Many people take passports for granted and don't realize how the power of their country's passport directly impacts how and where they can travel

hey uh peter parker here to pick up a passport please to leave a country is like breaking out

of jail and to enter a country is like going through the eye of a needle am i free to travel

of course you're free to travel only with a passport hi i am shifa adriana a female solo

traveler from indonesia i have been solo traveling since 2013 and have been documenting my solo

travel journey on YouTube since 2016. In today's video, I will share the idea of passport inequality

and how this travel document plays a big role in determining my freedom of movement

and how not all passports are created equal. This is a passport, a seemingly simple document used by millions of people every day

Passports are travel documents that certifies the identity and nationality of its holder

Documents of this nature go back thousands of years where kings and leaders provided paperwork

for their citizens to take with them and to request a safe passage through foreign lands

The modern passport requirements were only introduced widely during the World War I

and today they are required to enter or to leave any country in the world

As an Indonesian, my passport allows me to travel to only 26 countries visa-free, as

opposed to passports from countries such as Germany, where that number is currently about 100

For this reason like in many less wealthy societies traveling internationally as an idea was not something that was often discussed when I was growing up Traveling abroad is seen as a luxurious idea that can only be afforded by the wealthy and privileged

For many people coming from developing countries, their home becomes a place people travel to, not a place people travel from

The only way I felt that I could experience traveling myself was through achieving a scholarship to study abroad

It was only when a colleague from my internship in Jakarta introduced me to the website of Couchsurfing

where I first heard the idea of independent travel. Through these online communities, I started to meet up with international travelers who were coming to Jakarta

While listening to their stories, my intrigue into this lifestyle and different cultures started to grow

I wanted to find out how I could experience the same thing myself. However, although my mind was starting to open to the idea that traveling could potentially be possible for people like me

None of these travelers I met possess similar passport like me Most of the people I met were either European or American

And when I researched online, the vast online media was, and still is, coming from mostly Western travelers

This can somehow solidify the feeling that this form of travel can't be replicated by people like me

What many people don't realize is that not all passports share the same strength as the

vast majority of the travel influencers you see online. Passport strength has direct implications

on where you can travel and how easily you can travel. This gives the wealthier nations with

stronger passports the upper hand and the trend to focus solely on the number of countries that

you've traveled to can leave people with weaker passport demotivated. there is something called a passport index which is a global ranking of all different

passports in the world based on the travel freedom of their citizens this is broken down

by how many countries a citizen can access either visa free or visa on arrival there is a massive contrast between the strongest and the weakest passports looking at passportindex you can see countries such as European countries American or a select few of Asian that are at the top with more than 100 countries easily accessible

On the other end of the spectrum is Iraq with only four different countries easily accessible

and visa-free. I've personally met many travelers who say things such as

you should come to the US or you should visit Europe, as if this is a normal and an easy suggestion

However, many people don't realize that for people with weak passports, the process of applying for a visa feels like applying for a job

Many times this requires an interview, high up from fees and a proof of sufficient funds

You often feel discouraged even before you start applying. Due to this, in my travels, I have mostly avoided countries with difficult visa application process

Recently though, I had an experience of applying for a UK visitor visa which required me to

submit more than 30 pages of documents and $150 non-refundable application visa fee

To give that context, this visa fee would be nearly half a month of average pay in Indonesia

There are many other financial barriers to travel for people from less wealthy countries

but the fact that their passport is also weak reaffirms the narrative that people like me

aren't supposed to travel. Although this may seem overwhelming for people with a weaker passport, worry not, travel

is still very possible. Many people still travel on the weakest passport and in many ways it can be

even more rewarding if you can approach the idea of travel from a slightly different perspective

One general piece of advice I have to everyone is to stop focusing on the quantity of the

countries you've traveled to and start focusing on the quality of your travel experiences

My first tip to do this is to travel slowly. You don't have to travel fast and move from country to country

Be informed as to which countries that are more accessible for your passport and you can start by just picking one of those countries to focus on Maximize your experience and time in that country and travel slowly Even if you only

have two weeks, travel slowly within those two weeks and don't try to see and do everything

Secondly, focus on immersing yourself in the local culture rather than just sightseeing

Meet local people, engage in local activities and delicacies. Some of my most meaningful travel experiences have been the interaction I have with the people I met on the street by taking local bus or local trains

Number three, after you've picked a potential destination, do research on travel communities in that destination

This could be expat or travel groups on Facebook, blog websites or using couch surfing

Make connections before you travel to find local information from the people on the ground

This leads to my final tip. Stretch your budget wisely. If you've got very little money to travel with, try to find a responsible volunteering opportunities

Sometimes you can make connections with hostels and GOs or local families to volunteer part-time in exchange for food and accommodation

I did this when I first started long-term travel and traveled for five months with a thousand dollars of savings

You can make your limited budget stretch a long way if you're willing to do research and make connections before you travel

I hope this video has given you a bit of insight into the realities of passport inequality

And for those with weaker passport, I hope this video has given you hope

Whatever country we are from and however powerful our passport is we have the opportunity to experience the beauty of travel and to show that travel is for everyone

Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video and would like to learn more for your future travels

visit brighttrip.com for a variety of courses from topics like how to travel solo

how to document your trip, country-specific courses, and more. Bright Trip helps you travel smarter, so head over to take a course today