<p>It is very encouraging that she has an appointment and how wonderful that she knows someone in London! I have stayed at the hotel on Grosvenor Square and the assuming the embassy is still there, is very easy to get to (though it is an ugly 1960’s building - or at least it was a few years ago). Maybe she will have time to window shop down Regent street to Piccadilly Circus.</p>
<p>Look up the tube/metro maps for her so if she takes the subway from the train station, she will have a vague understanding of what lines to take. And if she is new to this, remind her that it is critical to know the final destination as this is how things are marked.</p>
<p>I also agree with Karen that she should have all the forms filled out so she can handle the transaction in one appointment.</p>
<p>Edinburgh is a small city compared to Glasgow, so I guess it makes sense that the passport office is closed.</p>
<p>The guy at the embassy said there is a photo booth there that she could use. Hope that’s right! I may call back just one more time…(10 minutes later) and lucky I just did! It turns out the photo booth at the embassy isn’t working! but the receptionist gave me the name of a pharmacy near the embassy that takes passport pix. </p>
<p>and window shopping sounds great! Her flights not until 1:15 Saturday. I can’t wait for this to be over.</p>
<p>Don’t worry until there is another glitch to overcome. I know several people who have received an emergency passport by the end of the day.</p>
<p>By the way, the last time I checked, the emergency passport was only good for one year, so she’ll need to do the drill again shortly if she’s planning to do more traveling.</p>
<p>I was speaking to some of my British friends today, everyone has horror stories. One mother’s teenager was stuck in Bolivia for two weeks after he lost his passport while volunteering for a non profit organization. Apparently US passports are worth more than gold! Fingers crossed everyone!</p>
<p>D got into london and stayed at a friends dorm last night. She found her way to the embassy with plenty of time for her appointment this morning, and right after she passed through security, the embassy was evacuated after fear of a bomb in an unattended bag! She just laughed! She waited until they reopened the embassy and got her passport without further drama. She had a great day in London and is probably having a great night with her buddies, back to school tomorrow afternoon.</p>
<p>We take copies of everything on a flash drive as well, including photos …and keep it separate from the hard copies. Just a thought for future travel.</p>
<p>hurdledan, you’re the second person who’s mentioned the movie Taken! I’m going to have to take a look (once she’s home and safe and I can breathe easy again)! And Mater, the flash drive is a great idea. compact, cheap, and easy to hide.</p>
<p>Stories like these are why, when I went to Europe in my early 20s with a friend, we always kept our passports (plus most of our money (except perhaps what we would need for that day) and plane ticket home) in a money belt around our waists.</p>
<p>One place where you NEVER want to put those valuables is in the outside pocket of a backpack.</p>
<p>Rick Steves has very good advice in his books (and perhaps on his website) about keeping your valuables safe while traveling abroad – something that should be read by all travelers.</p>
<p>^^I absolutely second the use of moneybelts. I’ve worn them in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Sure beats losing your passport, tickets, and money.</p>
<p>I wore my passport in a money belt for a month around Europe, and then it wouldn’t scan correctly at the end when I was trying to ride the Eurostar from Paris to London.</p>
<p>They let me on but I got picked out of the crowd exiting the train in London for some “further questioning” by security.</p>
<p>If you’re going to wear a moneybelt, then please make sure that you wear one that goes under your clothes. Anything else (apart from looking terribly dated) will mark you out as a tourist who can be ripped off</p>
<p>Moneybelt = wear under clothes (or sometimes within a leather belt itself, though that doesn’t hold a passport obviously).</p>
<p>What Boomting describes is what used to be known as a “fanny pack,” and is not the same thing at all. In fact, it’s much easier to pickpocket a fanny pack than a regular wallet or purse.</p>
<p>How did that happen - was it folded up or exposed to some weird conditions? Passports seem to be pretty resilient objects - mine survived a very rough and wet hike through the Inca Trail when I forgot it was in the top compartment of my backpack during a downpour :)</p>
<p>Would be better to store copies of important documents in the cloud somewhere, like on Google Drive. Much more secure than a flash drive, which can be lost/stolen/etc just like the hard copies.</p>
<p>I dunno… it wasn’t intentionally folded. Perhaps got some creases / wrinkles though. I did wear it through some fairly intense hikes (swiss alps) and rain. It worked fine at the airport in London and back in the US (not sure if they are scanned at airports… probably?)</p>