Great post, Wolfgang! I knew about the dots - but not the consequences of missing them off. (Wouldn't have known how to include them anyway.) Maybe you're aware of the guy? A bit too right-of-centre for my taste, but he comes across as a really sound politician.

Rob-o I didn't express it too clearly, but what I was suggesting you might not know was that in the states you can be in another country just by crossing a line in the road. But when I posted, I hadn't realised that you don't need a passport for Mexico. (As Mudcat is often inaccessible at present, I posted before seeing Carol's post setting me straight.)

Mousethief, you're breaking my heart. I'm even beginning to forget that Americans are the richest folk on earth. (Don't blame me for the unfair way they share it out!)

Carol, Rob-o etc,I take the point that you don't need to see the Victoria Falls if you've got Niagara. But in my view that only works for scenery, not social and political systems. For instance I'd say there was every reason for Americans to see Cuba's healthcare, even though they've got their own.

To make a serious point (well even more serious than my other points) long-distance air travel is now a major factor in global warming, which is a good argument for not doing it without strong cause. So I agree passports are a poor measure of enlightenment - especially when we can use the Mudcat to challenge our respective European/American mindsets without putting a foot outside the door.