More from the Department of Unfortunate Names

I bet all the guys shop there.

Groningen, the Netherlands

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

From the Department of Unfortunate Names

I can only imagine their ad campaigns

Munich, Germany

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

Naked Without My Passport

Usually when I get on a plane, I'm going to Europe. I have to show my passport at three or four airports before I make it to my destination. When I finally get to my hotel, I have to show my passport there, too – most European hotels won't let you check in without one. Even walking around a European city, I need my passport. Internet cafes always require one, and sometimes just sending a fax means showing a passport. If I realize I left my hotel without my passport, my first reaction is I panic.

Which is why I now feel naked without my passport. I keep reminding myself that, as a US citizen, I can travel domestically with just my driver's license, but it doesn't help. Every few seconds I catch my breath and think “Oh my god! I forgot my passport!” Then I have to breathe deeply and remind myself that I did not forget my passport, I left it at home on purpose because I don't need it.

Even now as I sit at my gate - well past security and check in – I periodically feel that something is amiss. I think for a second, trying to figure out what's causing my feeling of unease, and then it hits me – I'm still concerned about that stupid passport.

What really worries me, though, is the following scenario: I accidentally leave my carry-on with its precious cargo of shoes under the bench at my gate. I walk onto the plane with just my tote bag over my shoulder and my trench coat over my arm. I put my trench in the overhead bin and my tote under the seat in front of me. Suddenly, I think: aren't I supposed to have something else?

Of course not. This flight is domestic. For the last time – I don't need my passport!

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

One Wonders...

...what happens when one of the finest world cuisines combines with the cuisine that attempted to raise boiling to an art form? Magic? Or disaster?

Paris, France

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding