I Don’t Have a REAL ID
Hand up. Nope, still don’t have a REAL ID. That’s 100% on me. I’ve had ample time—literal decades, actually—to knock this off the to-do list. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has been teasing this rollout since before I turned 10. And yet, here we are. ID-less. Star-less. And somehow still surprised?
Now, before you grab your judgment gavel, let’s be real. Can we really blame ourselves when the government has been playing the longest on and off again nonsense? They’ve pushed this thing off more times than I snooze my alarm. Let it be known I average two snoozes a day. If you had bet money in Vegas on whether it’d actually happen this year, you probably would’ve gotten solid underdog odds until, like…early April. And by then? Every DMV appointment went quicker than TSwift tickets. Game over.
But yeah, still no REAL ID for me. Part of me genuinely believed they'd push the deadline again. Another part of me clung to the sweet security blanket that is my passport since I really didn’t wanna deal with the DMV.
Here’s the thing—I always want to believe the DMV gets a bad rap. I try to approach it with optimism and grace…only to be met with the crushing realization that, nope, the pain is real and my delusion needs to board a one-way flight.
But good news: there is a silver lining. Chantel and I are in the middle of updating all our name change docs (this is a whole other adventure), so new IDs are happening anyway. We’re going full gold star status, baby. Better late than never, right?
And before you panic, YES—we’re still traveling. LOLOL. I know none of y’all were actually worried.
Now, here’s what you really need to know. You can still travel without a REAL ID—as long as you have a valid passport.
HOWEVER, there is another option.
When I was flying out of Kansas City last weekend, the agent gave me the full “You know you’ll need a REAL ID soon, right?” monologue. Then she casually mentioned that if I didn’t have one after the deadline, I’d need to show up an hour earlier so they could run a full-on background check.
Ma’am. I had already been there for four hours at that point. I could’ve set up shop and opened a BBQ store….I digress.
So yes, you can get by without a REAL ID—but it’s gonna be a hassle. Probably more painful than the slow burn of waiting in line watching paint dry for your number to be called at the DMV.
I say all this to let you know: you are not alone. We’re right here in the trenches with you. And as professional over-packers and seasoned travelers, we’ll help guide you through it all. But real talk? Just go get the dang ID. I’m locked in for June. The gold star is calling.