As someone from a country whose passport doesn't get you anywhere, it's always a weird feeling to see characters in movies or stories doing things that are so d

As someone from a country whose passport doesn't get you anywhere, it's always a weird feeling to see characters in movies or stories doing things that are so different from your world view. I was reading a thrilling story once of some bay area founders who booked a rather urgent flight to a European country for a business meeting, left a few hours early for the airport, realized on the way that one of the guy's passport had expired, managed to go to San Francisco and get it renewed and made it to their flight. For the person narrating the story the expired passport was just a cinematic detail. As I heard the story, I was thinking how foreign that whole experience was for me—First, I couldn't possibly plan a Europe trip on a whim. I would need a few weeks for Visa applications and fees and arranging a zillion documents to apply for and get a Visa, and add a few more weeks if it's a country whose consulate isn't where I live. Second, it never happens that my passport is 'accidentally' expired because my life is a constant mess of passport and visa stamp and I-94 and other complications, so I constantly need to be aware of what I need to be doing so that I don't fall out of 'legal status' in the US. Third, if my passport was indeed expired, there was no way in hell I could get it renewed in a couple of hours. I would basically have to forfeit my trip, as more than a few friends of mine have had to do at various points of time in life due to passport and visa complications. For people with non-magical passports like ours there is no spontaneity of international travel.