Travelers' Intercom

I renewed a passport in September 2010 through the mailing process established by the Department of State. I received a 10-year passport with a meager 17 pages available for visas or stamps.

I called the National Passport Information Center at 877/487-2778 and was told that I should have made a request for more pages at the time I mailed in form DS-82 along with my old passport and a check.

I pointed out that on the website, www.travel.state.gov, I found nothing about that under “Renew Passport” or on the DS-82 form. The pleasant customer service agent replied that I should...

My husband and I were traveling independently in the Outback of Australia’s Northern Territory in July ’04. Suddenly my husband and I looked to the side of the road and both said, “Oh, no, that ‘roo’ is going to jump right into us.” Within seconds that beautiful kangaroo had committed suicide and our car had a great amount of damage.

Three days later a flock of birds smashed into the windshield, doing more damage to the car.

The next day, on the way to the middle of nowhere, the car said, “Chug, chug, chug.” With great skill, my husband nursed the gas pedal and moved us along...

I was in Israel for a conference and had three days afterward (Sept. 11-14, 2009) to revisit Jerusalem. In particular, I wanted to visit the Herodium, a conical hill near Jerusalem where the tomb of King Herod the Great was identified only in 2008, and Hezekiah’s Tunnel, a very interesting relic of Biblical times that wends 500 meters through solid rock, with running water on the floor the entire way. Hezekiah’s Tunnel is near the Area G excavations of the City of David, just outside the Dung Gate.

On the Web, I found Shmuel Browns (phone 02 562 0785), a licensed Israel tour guide...