Some last-minute business travel popped up and I found myself needing to renew my passport in less than two weeks.  I scrambled to figure out what to do.  According to the State Department’s website, I could expedite the renewal process for an extra fee (total of $135 plus postage) which would get me the passport back in two to three weeks.

Well, shit.  That wasn’t fast enough.

Then I was told I could get it done much faster if I went in to a passport agency office.  There aren’t many of these offices in the US, but Denver does have one.  I called to make an appointment; the earliest I could get was one week before I was scheduled to travel.  That had me worried, but apparently I didn’t need to: if necessary, they can whip out a new passport in four hours.

On the appointed day, I showed up with all the necessary forms and proof of ID.  The passport agency in Denver is on the 6th floor of a commercial building.  Stepping from the elevator, I was greeted with a security desk, an x-ray machine, and a metal detector.

What the fuck is this about?  Why do I have to go through airport-style security screening after I’m already in the building AND on the 6th floor?!  What fucking genius came up with this plan?

I dutifully emptied my pockets and put all my paperwork on the x-ray conveyor belt, then I stepped through the metal detector.

BEEEEP!

“Sir, please step back, remove your shoes, and place them on the x-ray machine.”

“Uh, there’s no metal in my shoes, so I don’t think that will help.”

“Just follow my instructions, sir.”

Shrugging, I pulled off my shoes and sent them through to be irradiated.  When I stepped through the metal detector again, it beeped.  I took great delight in giving the guard an I-told-you-so look.

The guard, in turn, took great delight in thoroughly giving me the once-over with the hand-held detector (which, I am convinced, doesn’t really work — there’s just a button near the handle that the guards can push when they want it to beep).  Bastard thought it was hilarious to make it beep at random spots and make me pull up my sleeves, pant legs, etc, to show that there’s nothing there.  I almost made the snide offer to just take off all my clothes, but I think he would have smiled and pulled out a box of rubber gloves.

I shuffled over to the bullet-proof, Plexiglas window and passed my forms through while simultaneously trying to put my shoes back on.  I was given a number and told to wait to be called.  It looked like only two of the ten windows were manned, but there was hardly anyone else there.

They had a TV playing a children’s movie for entertainment, but it was far more interesting to eavesdrop on the other people at the windows.  One young family was not allowed on their flight to Mexico this morning because, on the advice of a postal worker, got their daughter a passport card rather than an actual passport.  Why anyone would take the advice of a postal clerk on something concerning international travel is beyond me…  but it was highly entertaining to listen to the woman demand a refund for the useless passport card, then, failing that, asking whether she should call the police and file a report on the misguided postal worker.

I’ll give the woman credit, though, she never once lost her composure or yelled at the clerk behind the window.

That family was followed by an older woman who, again, missed her flight that morning.  Her entire family (and from the sounds of it, it was everyone – brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins…) went on ahead without her.  This one simply couldn’t find her passport; the only one she could find was an old one from 1967.

You know, the pay is probably shit, but being a clerk here the passport office has to be one of the more interesting jobs around.  I bet they hear some wild-ass stories from people.

My turn finally came and I took care of business in just a few minutes.  I couldn’t tell if the clerk was disappointed or relieved that I didn’t have a sob-story about how I needed my passport ASAP.  Maybe I should have made something up…  Nah.  That crack security team they have over there manning the metal detector would probably jump me if they suspected I was telling a lie just get my passport faster.

I pick up my passport in a few days — three days before I travel.  I think I’ll put some quarters in my underwear just to fuck with the security guys.

(For less than 2 weeks)

Los Angeles, CA

Federal Building

11000 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1000

Los Angeles, CA  90024-3615

Automated Appointment Number: 877-487-2778

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I’m not sure who first coined the phrase but I’ll bet it followed on the heels of a trip abroad.

If you take into account travel to Mexico and Canada, about 25 million Americans will travel outside the United States this year. But as a general rule, Americans aren’t very well-traveled outside our borders. Only about twenty percent of us have passports with even fewer having used them.

Spending eight days in the Dominican Republic this month has given me a new appreciation for much that I have apparently taken for granted.

At the top of the list is simply water. And clean water. And hot water. And drinking water. And enough water. Clean, hot water was in short supply in the city of San Juan. Actually, water, period, was in short supply.

Seven days with only cold showers, one day with no shower, and several partial showers during which the faucets ran dry were all foreign to me prior to the trip. It took all week to get in the habit of brushing my teeth with bottled water rather than tap water, the reverse of which you do not want to experience.

The whole water thing really hit home, however, when at the end of an eight-hour day of painting concrete walls in the hot sun, I saw one of our translators using the bucket of water in which we had cleaned paint brushes and rollers to bathe. It will be a long time before I consciously waste water.

A second thing I realized I take for granted is simple convenience. There’s a reason Sam’s Club and Costco have zero presence in the Dominican Republic. Food for meals is usually purchased daily at the market and prepared the same day.

And a drive-thru? Non-existent. I actually experienced withdrawal symptoms for long lines, rude cashiers, incorrect change, and foods that taste like cardboard.

Another thing I will no longer take for granted are traffic laws. Truth be told, most drivers in the United States obey most of the traffic laws most of the time. However, I knew we were no longer in Kansas, Toto, when one night on a four-hour bus ride from Santo Domingo to San Juan our bus driver decided to pass a string of vehicles.

While in the states this might not seem unusual, what made this experience memorable was we were traveling on a two-lane road complete with double solid yellow lines separating the lanes. Speeding along at 125 kilometers, up a hill, into a curve, passing six-plus vehicles into the path of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler barreling down the hill, all the while blowing the horn, apparently is par for the course in the Dominican.

At least I no longer needed to go to the restroom at that point.

All of this to say, I’m celebrating Thanksgiving this season in new light. In spite of your political persuasion, favorite NFL team, or dilemma of dressing over stuffing, please realize that we live in a very special country that has been blessed beyond what we deserve.

I hope you will take time this Thanksgiving weekend to offer thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, the Giver of “every good and perfect gift,” among which are water, drive-thru’s, and rules of the road.

Just a quick note to say thanks to all the regulars who visit the blog. Also to all the techies, engineers and programmers that make all these great new photography products that I can’t afford to buy. (But drool over in catalogs all day long.) One day…. The Nikon D3x and D3s will both be mine… with the new Nikkor 70-200 F2.8 VR II lens. Yes… One day!

In any case, I’m still testing the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport and will have some thoughts to share on it shortly. I’m also working on getting some other videos together for some of the current tutorials as well as some new ones. But right now, like most photographers, this is the busiest part of the year for me so spare time to sit down and work is sparse.

Lastly, have a great Thanksgiving and don’t forget the extra memory cards for those family moments! (Hopefully good ones.)

One of my favorite and most valued items, besides chocolate, of course, by far, is my passport.    The passport has taken me to great new lands and brought special things into my life, that I enjoy frequently, therefore enhancing it.  Beer’s up there too, but that’s all because of my passport as well, I didn’t truly start enjoying the taste of beer until I started traveling and trying different flavors and appreciating what beer has to offer.

Simply.. Nirvana.

I can’t believe I didn’t get a passport sooner than I did.  The freedom, the adventure.. those 2 words alone are enough for me.  I’ve literally gone on a few trips that came to me last minute and if I didn’t have my passport ready to fly, then I wouldn’t be flying anywhere.  It’s the first step you take if your at all interested in venturing out and seeing how other people live their lives in different parts of the world.  I know that’s an obvious statement, but I once heard that 10% of Americans have passports.  Only 10% have the capability to cross borders let alone actually do it.  Be uncommon, see the world.

From traveling, I’ve learned so much about life, love, food, spirituality, family.. myself.  The countless memorable experiences I’ve had and shared with remarkable people, I’ll be taking some of those moments with me for the rest of my days.  The sad part is knowing that I won’t have enough time in this life to see all the places that I’d like to, but Lord knows I’m doing the best I can.

Now that I’ve been to the far reaches of the planet I now know how little I’ve really traveled.  Other cultures allot much more time to traveling than Americans do, for the most part.  I know that there are exceptions to every rule, but the standard amount of vacation time for Americans is 2 weeks per year.  That’s 50 for work and only 2 for vacation, which is roughly 4% of the year.  So only 4% of the year is alloted for vacation and the possibility to travel and only 10% of Americans venture out of the country.. I think that’s a crime is some lands, if it’s not, it could be.

View in between naps.. Spectacular.

The next step is buying the ticket.  I’m certain everybody has an idea of where they would like to travel so getting the ticket is the next big hurdle.  If you buy the ticket, your committing, even if that ticket is refundable or changeable, and your sub-conscious mind starts arranging it for you, it’s quite remarkable how that happens, and before you know it, your on a plane, boat, train, car, horse, bike or whatever else is your preferred means of travel, embarking on an adventure that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

Take more time for traveling.  You not only deserve it, you’ll thank yourself for it.

The family went up to Echuca over the weekend. We have family friends up in Echuca and as it’s not the first time we’ve been up there, it’s familiar territory for us.

I thought Toby might like a slice of country action, so I brought him along. He’s quite a well-travelled dog. I reckon his passport would look quite full and indicate a who’s who of Victorian attractions – The Great Ocean Road, Daylesford, practically all of Melbourne inner city and now, the border of Victoria and New South Wales. If a dog is reading this, it would want to be my dog too.

Really it was all about a relaxing weekend. Didn’t even do much browsing in the shops. It was Nature + Sleep + Eat = Remembering what life was before the advent of the Internet. It was great not having to stare at a screen for hours on end, or worry about anything computer-related.

Just all in a weekend's work for Toby!

Well you can live in the Philippines on $500 per month and here’s how.

Apartments in Cebu, one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines, can start from around $150 (£103) per month.  Not that Cebu is particularly off the beaten track.  Cebu city boasts 5 star hotels, casinos, shopping malls, golf courses and nearby sandy beaches.  If you’re prepared to take cost savings further you can rent a room in a house.

Home to around 115,000 people, the city also offers nearby whale and dolphin watching, excellent beaches and is fast becoming a prime location for those wanting to retire in the Philippines as it has a large number of medical clinics, good city amenities, as well as a laid back lifestyle.

Next, on to the secondary products such as food!  Lets say you use half a litre of milk per day, 3 litres of bottled water per day, breakfast on two boiled eggs, buy a kilo of rice every 3 days and usually eat out every lunch time and evening at a local roadside stall – something like sizzling pork cheeks or Tapsilog (beef fried rice and eggs), and you obviously get through a kilo of coffee a week, average costs for a month would run to around $350 (£240).  So a months worth of groceries plus accommodation costs would still allow you to live on less than $500 per month in the Philippines.

In many of the more touristy and popular parts of Spain English is widely understood – so this can be good for those who don’t fancy the thought of having to get to grips with another language in order to move abroad.  And for those for whom the idea of moving to such an area is abhorrent, there are plenty of pockets of more rural Spain where there are no English people!  This means that in theory, no matter what your preference, you can find a place for your retirement in Spain.

How to live abroad cheaply, if you’ve decided to get out of the rat race during the current economic doom and gloom but haven’t really got much in the way of cash, or if you’re thinking about retiring early, or maybe you just want to be a beach bum for a few months, why not get yourself over to Thailand?

The first consideration is going to be accommodation.  You’re not going to be able to put yourself up in the Bangkok Hilton on a budget of $500 a month living in Thailand, but accommodation can be found from as little as $30 (£20) a month for a small apartment without air conditioning in places like Chang Mai up in the mountains of northern Thailand.

Whilst it would be very tempting to go straight into trying to fit a months worth of nightlife in Thailand into $400 it’s probably better to consider the cost of food as your next priority.  The majority of lower end apartments won’t have cooking facilities so it’s going to be a case of eating out.  Obviously you can eat in a restaurant every night, but again budgetary requirements won’t cover this.  You can however get fantastic Thai food from street side food stalls.  A good meal for one will cost around $1.10 (£0.75), and it usually consists of rice with spicy chicken, spicy pork or spicy something else!

Obviously you’re going to need to get out a bit while you’re living in Thailand, and with $220 remaining we can do that.  Put aside around $30 (£20) for a months worth of laundry and we are now down to $190.  Going out to dinner without getting too heavy on the alcohol should run to about $12 (£8.25) per person, and getting to and from your preferred spot shouldn’t be too expensive as a 3 kilometre taxi ride will run to about $0.40 (£0.27), so you can look to spend around $72 (£50) a month on eating dinner out once or twice a week and maybe $25 (£17) in taxi rides.

Opened in 1995, Passports continues to be a local and visitor favorite, specializing in creative cuisine from around the world. Menu features include, popovers to start, local seafood, steaks, lamb chops, and international specialties. Passports is known for its fine dining in a casual atmosphere, along with the biggest selection of beer & wine on Cape Ann. I must say that I had the BEST Rueben Sandwich there ( I am not sure it is still on the menu, but it was fantastic!) Mondays deal of the day is a FREE appetizer at Passports!! Come on down and say hello to Eric ( he is the big boss ).

CLICK TO VIEW PASSPORT MENU

CLICK TO BUY A PASSPORT GIFT CERTIFICATE

CLICK FOR FREE APPETIZER!!!!

Just the mere suggestion that Blair could be considered for this new post means that Europe needs to be left well alone in terms of a destination for expat Britons, and when you throw in the uncertainty surrounding the future of the euro as a strong global currency, it really does make sense to research alternative nations to call home.

Unfortunately for us Brits, countries in Europe are generally the easiest for us to move to with the least bureaucracy involved in the relocation process – but in this report we’ll show you how, with just a little more effort, you can move further afield and perhaps achieve a far more positive lifestyle abroad.

Of course, this could just be media speculation alone, but strong voices have already come out both in support and against Blair’s standing – so there may well be truth in the speculation…

To us it’s a terrifying prospect – Tony in charge of Europe?

As if things in the euro zone were not bad enough already…

As Britons using sterling we’ve also been affected by this concept – our purchasing power in the Eurozone has never been worse.  But we have to recognise that things in Europe itself, and within the Eurozone in particular are no better because there is an intrinsic inability to respond to inflation so the purchasing power of the euro is rapidly eroding in several countries.  This could create a situation for a retiring Briton where their sterling based income buys few euros, and those few euros buy absolutely nothing at all in the new nation they decided to call home.  It’s a terrifying prospect…

According to Laurent Jacque, professor of international finance and banking: “However traumatic it may be to reinstate national currencies, some countries could decide to abandon the euro to recover their economic competitiveness…But this is unlikely in the short-term, if only because national debts denominated in euros would become very expensive to service with a newly restored but devalued currency for the seceding country.  Even so, further deterioration of an already fragile social climate (such as the recent demonstrations in Greece) fuelled by a brutal acceleration of unemployment, may push some countries to this solution of last resort.”

New Zealand, Canada and Australia are all favourite long haul destinations with escaping Brits, but each requires one to complete a merry bureaucratic dance just to gain temporary residency.  What’s more, the skilled migrant programmes that each nation uses to attract the best professionals from around the world have been slashed as each of the three nations has its own economic issues and therefore each requires fewer newcomers thank you.

Alternatively what about nations that have yet to emerge onto the British expat radar but which are growing significantly in interest for Americans?  Argentina or Mexico perhaps?  Both are stunningly beautiful countries with fabulous climates, plenty of potential for anyone with confidence and get up and go for example.

Panama for Retirement Abroad

Panama has been on the American radar for some time as an overseas retirement destination, but for us Britons, because it has not be straightforward to get to in terms of direct flights, we have overlooked it.  However, to overlook Panama is to overlook what could be your perfect retirement paradise.

It’s easy to get to and from the States so you can have first world services etc., almost on your doorstep if you’re worried about that – although if you live in or around Panama city, you’ll be surprised how sophisticated it is.  Panama City is considered the safest city in Central America, and it is home to fabulous shopping, first class health care and the quality of life in Panama is good and affordable meaning you can have your cake and eat it!  Real estate away from the main urban areas is also affordable, particularly as Panama boomed recently and is undergoing a decent negative price readjustment!!

The countries which compose the European Union have always attracted a large number of expatriate Americans, in part because of Europe’s culture, history, and scenic beauty, but also in because Europe used to offer many well-paying jobs for foreigners. Over a million Americans currently call Europe their home, and the draw of the “Old World” for North American citizens continues unabated. Unfortunately, the ongoing global recession has significantly dampened the prospect for Americans to find work in Europe. All European countries suffer from high unemployment, government cutbacks, and reduced growth. But despite the current crisis there are still jobs available for foreigners in a variety of fields and roles. Below I have outlined several options for people who are interested in working in Europe but do not have European citizenship or a residency permit.

Get your Foot in the Door

Foreign Language Skills

Do your Homework Ahead of Time

Jobs for Highly Skilled Professionals

Visas for the Self-Employed

Work Exchange Programs for Students

Internships

Teaching English

Temporary and Seasonal Work

General Considerations

For expatriates, the main difference between South American countries is not immigration laws, which are similar, but the varying cost of living and the local culture.  Each South American country has a unique culture and way of life that sets it apart from its neighbors. Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile have a strong European cultural influence due to many immigrants from Europe, whereas in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, the culture of the native people is dominant in many regions. Brazil, on the other hand, is a fascinating conglomerate of European and African cultural influences. Some countries such as Ecuador and Uruguay are known to be great destinations for expatriates, largely due to their low cost-of-living and easy regulations for investing and buying property. But there is more to immigrating to South America than finding the cheapest destination. Cultural considerations are equally important, since you will be dealing with the local people, way of life, and culture every day.

In general, foreign visitors to South America are allowed to stay from three to six months per year. If you want to stay longer you need to apply for a visa either as a student, employee, retiree, or investor. With the exception of a residency visa obtained through a relative who is a citizen of that country, all other residency visas–such as retirement and investment visas–are temporary and need to be renewed regularly. Having a temporary residency visa does not mean that you are entitled to work. To be able to work you need either a work visa (dependent on a job offer) or permanent residency. The most common way for foreigners to establish residency in South America is buying property or establishing a business. Such an investment entitles you to a temporary residency visa, which needs to be renewed every one or two years.

Permanent residency status is usually only granted if someone is married to a citizen of that country or after someone has legally resided there for a number of years with a temporary residency visa. If you have legally worked in South America for a number of years or have had temporary residency as a retiree or investor, you are usually eligible to apply for permanent residency. Once you obtain permanent residency status in a country you will eventually be able to apply for citizenship, although the waiting period for citizenship varies from country to country. Regardless of the type of visa you have, if you overstay the period of time you are legally granted, expect to pay a fine if you are caught.

Visa fees vary from country to country, and sometimes additional fees are required. For example, Argentina charges US$100 for the residency visa application, and an additional US$200 immigration fee to applicants for residency visas. Consulates may also charge an additional fee if you need to sign a work contract at the consulate and have your signature notarized. In some cases you may also have to appear at the consulate in person, either for an interview or finger printing.

Private Income and Retiree Visas

Work Visas

Student Visas

Investor Visas

Other Options

Additional Information

To offer an idea of the size of U.S. expatriate communities in South America, I have collected data from the U.S. State Department Background Notes:

I applied the passport by the on-line option. They given the appointment time 9.00 A.M. On a particular day !! It make me surprised how efficient they are, I obeyed their below instruction and reached there at 8:30 A.M and ignored the long queue and at 8:45 I asked the guy sitting in front of the office about my appointment time.

[Please visit Passport office on the appointed date and time. You should arrive at RPO about 15 minutes before the appointed time and proceed to the respective counter. On line applicants do not need to obtain a token number for submitting their applications. You will not have to wait long in the queue. ]

The saga begins….

Officer       :- Every body’s appointment time is 9.00 A.M and want to take token.

I                 :- Went back of the long queue and reached to get token.

Officer      :- The documents want to be filed, so you need to go a nearby “Badged agent” whom will verify the entries and file your documents-  you  want to pay for this service(when I reached the passport office some of the guy’s already offered this service, as a “on-line guy” I ignored them.)

I                 :- went to the agent and any how filed,verified( he showed some doubts about some entries, he said they may ignore it) and went to line and  got the token- The token number 180!!!. Time is nearly 10:00 and I got instruction your turn will come around 2.00 P.M ( Afternoon section). so I decided go back to my place… and came back at 1:30. Afternoon section begins at 1:45 and my turn came around 2:00 P.M(exact prediction) .submitted the documents…

Officer      :- He found some errors. (Exactly what the guy morning told me. They want to change the form).

I                :- went back and meet the same “morning agent” . He offered the service and changed the entries as a new form and collected the service charge as a new form. Luckily the “previous token” is valid and I submitted the documents and finished the work. Time is now 2:30

She woke up in the dark, her face smeared in smudged mascara. Her hair stuck together with what seemed to her like glue, foul smelling like rotten egg. The guys have had their fun that night, one of them was so wasted he had found funny to put cigarettes out on her skin. She had smoked all that hashish so she did not give a damn. They left her there, lying on the broken tiles, the perverts. She hated those furtive meetings in the castle ruins, up the hill, having to walk her ass about on her cheap golden high-heeled shoes. It was not an easy job, on the irregular pavement, those heels getting stuck everywhere. A girl has to do what she has to do. One of the bastards, the bald fatty, tried to get her down on him for a pair of fake diamond earrings. They were not bad, the earrings, but she could not have sold them for a drink or a hot meal. Her stomach howled. Time to get back to work.

Shivering against the streetlight, slim-line cigarette between parted crimson lips. The reddened eyes betrayed sleepless nights, naked knees trembling with fatigue and the perennial cold. Shivering against the streetlights with her tits on display. Not a soul driving past tonight and she needed a fix, a smoke, a drink, dark chocolate, whatever. Something to spend the night on.

 Fed up of the empty hours, she dragged herself to a crowded nearby café. ‘I’m sorry ma’am, we’re closed’ Said the waiter. Young guy, twenty something, blonde and bland, doable. He scanned her upside down with his diluted-blue eyes. ‘Care for a coffee?’ Asked, softening the tone. Past closing time, he sat by her side, pretending to listen her life-story as they all did. He gave her cake, and more coffee. She gave him a hand job. He caressed the fabric red orchid in her hair, kissed her softly on the lips and mumbled ‘I..this…never been with a…before’. She laughed so hard she could have choked. With a mouth full of lemon sponge and cream and strawberry swirl, she muttered ‘I…haven’t had…any…ever’. She wanted him to take her away from the street, and the cold.  If he filled her days with cake and laughter, she would give him all the hand jobs in the world. Life was only simple in her dreams. He wanted what they all wanted, so she had to do what she had to do. At least this one was not ugly or old.

Back at the motel, razorblade in hand, stared at the warm running water filling up the tub. Wanted to cry in her mama’s arms, somebody’s arms around her. In this land, she was nobody. She was everybody’s body. She was a chunk of meat with a whole on sale. She would sell her soul for a passport.

September 3, 2003

Washington, D.C.

So, a very unfortunate thing happened to my passport.  Coming off a very bad passport photo that followed me around for years, I was determined to take a better picture – one where I looked a little less like a sausage.  Having gone to the extra mile to secure a decent photo — which involved taking a variety of digital shots and specifically choosing the least heinous of them for submission — I felt positive that immigration officials throughout the world would Ooo and Ahh over the lack of resemblance between the real-life me and my magazine-worthy picture.  Nevertheless, I arrived at lunch, where Eric awaited giggling with my new passport to discover “the issue”:  dust between the photo and the laminate.  Not only does it appear as if I have chicken in my teeth, but also – and this is the piece-de-resistance – it appears as if I have a big, blue booger in my nose.  Awesome.

With an 8-12 window for an arrival time, who knew our movers would ACTUALLY show up at 8 a.m.?!  It seemed impossible… and, yet… Still in bed, I sent Eric downstairs in his pajamas to fend them off for a few minutes.  He returned with a report: downstairs, he greeted two small Indian women and an 80 year old slender man.

“I’m pretty sure our movers will actually die today.”

We were relieved to learn Frail, Frail and Frailer were only the packing team, Eric and I both had visions of one of the slight women crushed under one of our many humongous armoires.

Casefile Clues is Michael John Neill’s weekly how-to genealogy column. Casefile Clues is not copied and pasted text from other articles or press-releases. Rather, it is fresh material drawn from Michael’s own research experiences in nearly twenty states and seven foreign countries. Casefile Clues discusses the thought process of how to analyze and interpret documents; how to problem-solve; and how to decide “where to go next.” Michael has been actively involved in genealogy research since the mid-1980s.

What is a case study? George C. Morgan writes in his article, Study a Case Study, “Genealogical case studies can be fascinating, educational glimpses into other researchers’ perspectives. You gain the experience of the writer and can apply it to your own research.” Some of you may be thinking that you have your plate full with your research. Can subscribing to Casefile Clues help you in your genealogical endeavors? I decided to seek this answer out for myself. I had some experience in doing case studies by participating in a genealogy study group; we read a monthly case study and met monthly as a group to review and discuss the case studies merit. I wondered how Casefile Clues would compare in terms of readability, knowledge and value.

I read and studied Casefile Clue, Volume 1, Number 2 named Framing a Passport Application. It quickly got my attention as my husband’s side is from Sicily and immigrated to the United States. While I had occasionally glanced at the passport applications, I had not given them serious reflection. He wrote about discovering a passport for the brother of his wife’s great-grandfather. While there were few records on the grandfather, what he learned with the information taken from the passport gave him insight into this side of the family. He learned places, dates, physical description, and employment for this brother which led him to clues for his wife’s side of the family. While every passport is not the same, depending on the time period and the place, valuable information can be learned if passport applications are studied as part of our research plan.

I decided to give what I learned a try. I went to Ancestry.com to do a quick search on the U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 site. I entered Termini, where my husband’s side is from in Sicily and Memphis, where most of this family came to live. There was a Salvatore Mascari listed who was the grandfather of my husband’s second cousin’s wife. We live in the same city of this cousin and I have actively done his genealogy for him. I had very little on his wife’s line and had set her family research aside for the last couple years. Now, prompted by Michael John Neill’s Casefile Clue’s Case Study, in less than 15 minutes this is what I learned form a simple passport lookup.

Salvatore Mascari was born September 15, 1858 in Termini, Sicily. He was 5 foot, 10 ½ inches with dark brown eyes. He had a large nose, black hair, long face with an olive complexion. The passport gave the name of the ship, although a little fuzzy to read, along with his naturalization date of March 15, 1905. His witness was R. F. Arata of Memphis (someone I need to do some research on to see if a relation) and it was signed with Salvatore’s signature and his address. While this particular passport did not have a photo, I came across many that did. To my husband’s side of the family, to learn this of her grandfather was a goldmine.

Learning this information, based on just reading one Casefile Clues, was definitely worth the price I paid! But, I still have many more Casefile Clues to study and I am looking forward to the new ones I will receive. The subscription is only $15 that can be done quarterly or annually.

In conclusion, here is Michael John Neill in his own words: “For over the past ten years, I have written over 600 weekly genealogy columns, first for Ancestry.com and then for Dick Eastman. My new columns are now distributed through “Casefile Clues.” Additionally I have lectured at local, regional, and national genealogical society seminars and workshops and have presented numerous hands-on computer genealogy classes as well. I was formerly on the board of directors of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and have served on FGS conference committees in a variety of functions. I have a master’s degree in mathematics and have been on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois, since the early 1980s. I have done additional graduate work in education.

My writing style is not overly formal, but focuses on sound methodology, practice, and readability. I write about problems and families I am working on, or interesting records I have discovered in my own research–with the intent of showing how the record could be used, what it means, and why it was created. Every family I write about is one I am researching and every record is one I have actually used.”

Tina Sansone, Bellaonline’s Genealogy Editor is a subscriber to Casefile Clues and recommends taking advantage of this great subscription. I look forward to hearing comments about your success story as a result of Michael John Neill’s case studies. I was not compensated for this review; it was written based on my reading and applying the lessons I learned.