DIY Passport Photos

As we travel for the next few years, we’ll be entering dozens of countries. Each country has different requirements for entry; some are very easy, some require significant effort. If you're American and interested in determining what you need to have in order to enter a country, the best source I’ve found is the US State Department website.

One of the semi-common requirements for entry into a country is to obtain a visa. In preparation, we needed to get a bunch of passport photos. If you haven’t gotten passport photos before, you can go into almost any pharmacy, walmart, AAA, or even photo booth to get them. They typically cost around $10 for two 2x2inch photos. This is a complete and total rip off when you can get a copy of normal photos for pennies.

We wanted to get 10 photos each, which would cost nearly $100 if we went with one of the traditional passport photo options. This was unacceptable and we decided that there had to be a more economical way. What follows are step by step instructions for how we made Do It Yourself Passport Photos:

1. Procure a digital camera, light source, empty white or off-white wall, computer with internet connectivity, and a photo buddy
2. Have your buddy take your picture up against the wall. Some tips:
   • Stand close to the wall so that the shadow is minimized as much as possible
   • Put the light source above you to ensure the photo is well illuminated
   • Make sure that your buddy gets most of your chest and has plenty of room on the sides and top of your head
3. Now, to the computer! Copy your photos onto your computer and visit the State Department page on passport photos
4. Scroll about 2/3 of the way down and click “Start Photo Tool”
5. Click “Choose Photo” and select the picture that your buddy took
6. Follow the instructions on the screen and get your head aligned into those lovely green ovals
7. Click “Crop Photo”
8. Click “Save Photo”
9. In your photo editing application of choice, create a new image that is 4 inches by 6 inches and add this photo to it. You should be able to fit it on twice so that you don’t need to print as many copies
10. Save the new image to your SD card and bring it in to your nearest one hour photo department (we used Walmart). Print out the necessary number of 4x6 pictures

Instead of $100 we spent $2.80 for 10 passport photos of each of us.

For your viewing enjoyment, here are our passport photo bloopers (most of which are me being angry at Jordan for sucking at being a photo buddy):

I Heart Boobies (Isla de la Plata, Ecuador)

...I think that's what the kids are saying these days. I'm not talking breast cancer awareness though... I'm talking about the blue footed boobie. This bird is one of the coolest looking, but stupidest, birds I've ever seen. They are extraordinarily clumsy, and seem to do almost anything to avoid having to fly. They are notably found in the Galapagos, but we were able to see them on our recent day trip to Isla de la Plata. The island, also known as "poor man's Galapagos," is an hour by boat outside of Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. The reason they are able to survive is because there are literally no predators there. I am reasonably certain that the introduction of a domesticated house cat to the island would probably be enough to drive them into extinction. Enough about the boobies though.

June is the beginning of mating season for humpback whales, and we were excited to get to see four or five of them on the boat ride to the island. We saw several waterspouts in the distance, so I know there were a lot more out there. At one point, there were two so close to the front of the boat that we wondered if they would knock it over. They were absolutely enormous. When we got to the island, they docked the boat and our group made its way ashore. Our guide led us along a few trails, where we spotted dozens of our booby friends. They seemed more curious than afraid of people, and we often had to deviate off the trail to get by because they didn't move.

Toward the end of the trail, we came to an area of trees that were completely filled with frigate birds. The males have a bright red pouch under their beaks that they inflate to attract a mate. They didn't like it when we got too close, but Daniel was able to snap some great pictures nonetheless. Once we were finished on the island, we boarded the boat for lunch. Our guide threw some small bits of watermelon rind into the water, which attracted some hungry turtles and beautiful fish. The water was completely clear, so we got a great show.

We ended the trip with me getting horribly sea sick on the ride back. Daniel spotted some more whales and various birds, but at that point I couldn't care less. I've heard the recommendation to focus on the horizon when you are motion sick. Unfortunately, that advice doesn't work when the horizon looks like it is doing cartwheels because you are bouncing around so much. There was no hurling involved though, so the trip was still a win.

You can check out the rest of our pictures from Isla de la Plata here

Running report from the road

I've had a few people ask me if I am still running now that we have been traveling for three weeks. The short answer is... of course I am. The longer answer is yes, but it's just not the same.

While we were in Bogota, I did not run at all. Because I was not used to the altitude, just walking around town was enough to make my extremities tingle. Also, the area we were staying was pretty dodgy, the sidewalks were practically falling apart, and the pollution made me want to gag. I know, excuses... but still. I decided to give myself a week or so completely off to settle in.

When we made it to Pasto, it was time. I had to get a run in or I was going to go literally insane. The area was once again a little sketchy, and Daniel was terrified that I would get lost. I wanted to go out for four miles, so I ended up doing about eight loops around the central plaza area. It wasn't exactly the nice easy run I had anticipated... it was more like my heart was beating out of my chest and I wished I had brought along an oxygen tank to maintain a 9:40 pace. When I stopped, my face looked like a tomato, my lips felt like they had pins and needles pricking them, I was sweating my guts out, but my legs felt like I hadn't done anything. It was an odd sensation.

Since then, I have run in each city that we've visited. To date, I have logged 45 miles in Pasto, Otavalo, Banos*, Canoa, and Puerto Lopez. I've been getting in just over twenty miles a week.

*In Banos, I ran out the highway to Puyo, Daniel waited a bit, then rented a Boogie to pick me up. I recommend it!

All in all, I would say my running has been pretty "meh". My mileage has drastically decreased from where it was before I started traveling, but I am making an effort to run at least every other day. I also am going to get back into the habit of a long run once a week, hopefully in the 10 mile range. I haven't been doing any speedwork, but have tackled some monster hills and put in some good efforts on the beach. I must say, I miss having the Prairie Path the run on and people to run with. So far, I have not seen ANY females running... so I've gotten my share of whistles and stares. I am hopeful that I will eventually meet some other travelers to run with, but for now, I'm on my own.