Breeze Through U.S. Passport Control

The newest money and time saving travel tip out there

A Valuable Tip To Get You Home Faster After a Long Holiday

Uninterrupted Holiday 2020

It was February 2020. What was this terrible sickness I was barely recovering from while preparing to travel to Europe with my oldest daughter, Emma? Cough. Cough. It was the worst flu I’d ever had. Or was it? No…it was absolutely Covid-19.

Looking back, I had every single symptom…and bad. But at that time, there was no proof. It never even crossed my mind. My doc gave me a steroid so I would hopefully cease coughing my lungs out on the plane, and off we went. No Covid tests yet. No masks. No clue it could even be Covid…just me, recovering from the “flu”…exposing the world.

Emma and I were only days into our adventure (that was still quite amazing despite the lingering cough and impending doom) as the world progressively began closing down while we moved from one country another.

First, Paris. We had the entire City of Light to ourselves! She was perfectly splendid and dear. But when the Louvre closed down, it was clear that people all around were getting nervous. Still, we holidayed on. Cough. Cough.

Next, Vienna. They were a few days behind Paris in the panic, but the same things happened. Emma and I ate schnitzel and sachertorte with dark and rich Viennese coffee at Café Central as we passed through towards Budapest just as the fear was setting into Austria. But next, Budapest was surprisingly chill. They seemed unaffected at that time by the impending virus.

By the time we arrived in Prague, though, they were officially freaking out.

As for Emma and I, we Clorox wiped the world and just kept moving. It turns out we literally escaped Prague within four hours of them closing their borders to the world. It was a rush, and honestly, our time in every location was sublime.

Traveling Home

The U.S. government was calling us all home, and we complied. We had no choice. Emma and I basically got kicked out of Prague or told we would be trapped there for an unknown amount of time if we didn’t hurry to leave. So we said “goodbye” to Praha and “hello” to the chaos that was America.

Interestingly, we boarded the plane home to texts from my husband and kids about how there was no toilet paper to be found and grocery shelves were becoming bare. How weird. What a panicky and surreal reality we all lived in those early days of 2020. Wide-eyed and a bit concerned now, I stocked up on Ibuprofen and cough syrup at the Boots drug store inside London Heathrow just in case America truly lost her mind and emptied all the shelves…which, of course, she did.

The U.S., though anxious to bring us home, was NOT prepared in any way for this onslaught of passengers flocking to their airports from all over the world. Do you remember the airport scenes on the evening news? Emma and I were nestled deeply in those crowds…for hours…and hours…and hours, sharing Covid cooties with every continent all at once.

This is the very moment I decided that if there was ever a more efficient way to maneuver airport customs and border control in my future, I was signing up. The current scenario was unsafe and maddening, confusing and exhausting. Ragged and in shock, we waited. Cough. Cough.

2.5 Years Later

Today, pandemic weathered and on this side of 2020, I love our story of dancing with Europe just before the world closed down. I even love the chaos story of the airports because it somehow felt like a camaraderie with the world that was unique and irreplaceable. BUT I do hope to never experience that rush home and the long lines ever again.

Enter the CBP Mobile Control App

Thank you, U. S. Border Control. You must be listening. I see you are trying. Relative efficiency seems to have finally come to the rescue in the form of the CBP Mobile Passport Control App. From now on, all who are privy to this helpful tip should experience a more efficient border passing and shorter wait to enter America after their next Big travel Story. There’s even a cherry on top. It’s FREE!

Maybe the mobile passport lines won’t make a ton of difference when traveling home during the onset of a pandemic. Fingers crossed, we won’t ever have to test that type of efficiency ever again. But as for my upcoming trip to Italy in November, this budget-loving girl is thrilled to take these new mobile passport control lines for a spin.

Happy Travels,

Amy