I’ve held a valid passport since some international travel in 2008 (oh boy there were some adventures then) and I renewed it through 2028, despite not having an

I’ve held a valid passport since some international travel in 2008 (oh boy there were some adventures then) and I renewed it through 2028, despite not having any future intentions to leave the USA. I also hold a valid driver license despite not owning a vehicle (I do rent once every few months.) When I lost my wallet 3 years ago, I ordered a replacement online; it promptly arrived without the Travel ID designation. So I quickly decided that this was my opportunity to upgrade it (my passport would eventually expire naturally) and they required me to show up in person in order to obtain that Travel ID-enabled document. The DMV is a lot easier in modern times because of several aspects: third-party service (although these are for the poor and suckers in bad neighborhoods), appointments to bypass “take a number” or long queues, and plenty of online service if you’re tech-savvy. Last week I replaced my license again, with the .gov website service portal, and skipped the in-person appearance entirely, except a phone call and manual agent intervention was required due to some sort of bug/glitch in their backend. My state has also implemented a very robust Mobile ID program, although the reader equipment is slow on limited deployment and you’re still legally required to carry the physical document anyway.