This post has been a long time coming. I try to talk about a lot of different stuff in my posts here on the blog, and have a variety of travel-related topics. Well, I think it’s finally time to talk about the elephant in the room: something I like to call passport privilege.

I am a US citizen, was born in Minneapolis, and carry a blue US passport with me to travel the world. Those things have just about made me one of the luckiest people on earth. Because for most people in the world, travel isn’t anywhere near as easy as it is for me. Not everyone can travel the world. Not everyone can travel like I do. There are a lot of economic reasons for why I’m able to travel and others can’t, but I won’t go into that here.

In this post, I want to talk about this little blue passport book that confirms my US citizenship. And that has been my ticket to discovering this wonderful world we live in.

I’ll be honest—I didn’t always know just how privileged I was. I didn’t understand that there were people who couldn’t travel like I could. I definitely took it for granted, and looking back it’s fairly embarrassing just how naïve I was. But acknowledging my privilege, the privilege of all of us with the “good” passports, is really important.

I first learned about passport privilege when I studied abroad and met my best friend, who’s from Zambia. We lived together in Nottingham, and part of the program was that over the school breaks, we had to go out and travel. The first time I even noticed how privileged I was (and the rest of us were, as the rest of us were all Americans) was when I found out she needed to get a visa to visit the places we could all just show up at. She needed to get a Schengen visa, to get access to the multi-country Schengen zone—of which most countries in Europe are a part of.

Well, she had to get a visa, and since the only appointments for it were the day before she was set to leave, she had to change her travel plans. She couldn’t leave a 1-month trip up in the air until the day before! So she went to Turkey and had a fabulous time. But it was the first time in my entire life that I realized that I was lucky. That my passport was better than other passports.

The last 5+ years of travel have taught me a lot. During my travels, I’ve found out that hey—there are some places that I need to get a visa for too! (Russia being a notable example.) I’ve found out that I can go to a lot of places and get a visa on arrival, while other people of different nationalities with other passports have to pay loads of money, organize tons of paperwork, go to in-person appointments—all just to go to the same place that I can go to, no visa needed.

And don’t even get me started about how there seems to be this idea that Americans can just “move anywhere in the world” or (a favorite when election results aren’t in your favor) just “move to Canada.” Yeah, it doesn’t work like that. I fell in love with and married a Brit and still had to shell out thousands for a visa to get to live with him. I had to renew my visa and prove it all over again, too. It is extremely difficult to just move to another country, legally and permanently, with the exception of being sent there for work.

A United States passport is one of the most powerful in the world: how many countries you can visit without a visa. Although I believe Japan has taken the top spot with 190 (with Singapore, South Korea, and Germany close behind, along with most other EU countries including the UK), a US passport is still one of the most powerful in the world. As a US citizen, I can visit 184 countries without applying for a visa beforehand at present. (Report: Henley Global)

184 destinations that I can go to without the stress, the cost, and the pain of having to apply for a visa beforehand. And remember, for most countries a visa fee is non-refundable—it you don’t get the visa, you still lose your money. A friend of mine from Poland has said that visiting the US means a visa application (and probably an appointment), and he could do all that, still not get the visa, and lose all of that money. He can’t visit my country without jumping through a set of hoops. Yet I’ve been able to visit his country on three different occasions, whenever I felt like it. How is that fair?!

I recently went to Finland to see my friend from Zambia, as she’s now getting her Masters and studying there. For me to visit her, I bought flights, hopped on a plane, and strolled through the airport after getting a stamp in my visa. For her to visit me in the UK, she would have to apply for a UK visa, attend an in-person interview in Helsinki (so she would need flights to and from Helsinki, as well as probably at least one overnight there), and then maybe, just maybe, she’d be granted a tourist visa and be able to visit me. My privilege speaks volumes.

How is it that I got so lucky? Because of where my parents lived and where my mom happened to go into labor? Is that really it?

The truth is, for most non-Western countries (Japan, Singapore, and South Korea being perhaps notable exceptions), the color of your passport will determine how much you’ll be able to travel. The name of your country on that little book will decide where you can go, and where you can’t go (or, would have to work really hard to be able to go). Having a “good” passport is such an innate privilege. I did nothing to deserve this. But yet somehow, I’m one of the luckiest people in the world.

Visas and borders exist. Those with certain passports are privileged a thousand times over others. Those who didn’t luck out in the passport lottery have to work so much harder than us who did in order to travel the world.

There are so many other bloggers out there who weren’t blessed in the passport lottery like I was. I think it’s important to listen to them, learn from their experiences, and amplify their voices. Trisha from PS I’m On My Way is from the Philippines, and has written a lot about her experiences traveling on a Filipino passport. She’s been to lots of different countries (especially in South America) and has still been denied visas, including a visa to the US.

Lavdi from Kosovo Girl Travels faces even more insurmountable odds than the rest of us. Imagine trying to travel on a passport that’s from a country some countries don’t even recognize as being an actual country?! Kosovo is currently only recognized by 108 member states of the United Nations. So just think about the difficulties traveling on a passport from a country that according to some doesn’t exist. And these are just two examples of travel bloggers who travel and blog on “more difficult” passports.

Those from Afghanistan can visit just 25 countries without applying for a visa. Those from Iraq can visit 27 countries. Those with Syrian passports can visit just 29 countries, and those from Somalia can visit just 31. Compare that to the 190 countries Japanese citizens can visit, or the 184 countries I can visit. That’s just it: it’s passport privilege.

I’m always trying to learn more and discover new things. Owning up to the privilege I’ve been given from my US passport is hard—but I fundamentally believe everyone should have the same opportunities to travel as I do. Discussing this issue and raising awareness (particularly for others like me, who years ago had no idea about the world of visas) is the first step.

For those that look at my life and see how amazing it’s been for me to travel, this is your reminder: travel is easier for some than it is for others. And so much of it comes down to passport privilege.

I’m so grateful to have this little blue book to take with me on my travels. I don’t take it for granted, and it’s so important to remember that this passport is a privilege.

What are your thoughts on passport privilege? Have you ever traveled on a more difficult passport before? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

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