the world is mine...

My new passport arrived today. My old one expires in May, so I learned just how ridiculously hard it is to expedite a passport renewal while living in another country, and I had it renewed.

It's a little sad to give up my old passport. It's been in my back pocket on transatlantic flights and flights across North America. It's the passport issued just before I took off for Central America in 1999. It's been to Mexico a time or two. And it's got all of the stamps from going back and forth between Canada and the US many, many times. There are stamps from our honeymoon, both Belgium and Spain. And while it wasn't stamped in Israel, there is an Israeli security sticker on the back. That passport holds so many memories of so many adventures. And the picture was just so darned cute.

This new one won't be able to stay in the back pocket of my jeans. It's new, stiff cover protects the special electronic features. The photo is not nearly as adorable. But the blank pages invite me to more treks and travels.

Interesting that it arrived the very same day as the invitation to Tania and James' wedding at Canterbury Cathedral this summer...