[The Practical Nomad Newsletter] Travels and travails

[Edward Hasbrouck]

Greetings from Copiapo, Chile!

I haven't been writing much about my current trip around the world,  
partly because I've been busy travelling, sometimes in remote areas,  
and partly because my work for the Identity Project has occupied all  
my writing time.

In the meantime, a few notes, one time-critical:

The deadline for public comments on the USA Transportation Security  
Administration's proposed rules to make would-be travellers obtain  
individualized prior permission for all journeys by air to, from,  
overflying, or even *within* the USA is this Monday, 22 October 2007.

If you have a chance before 5 p.m. Washington time on Monday, I urge  
you to go to http://www.regulations.gov and tell the TSA what you  
think of their scheme.  You don't have to be a citizen of the USA to  
submit comments, and you can even do so anonymously.  The docket  
number is TSA-2007-28572, and there are more details at:

http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/001286.html

I came back to the USA briefly last month to testify as the lead  
witness against the proposal at the TSA's public hearing in  
Washington, and prepared more detailed comments which have been filed  
by the Identity Project:

My testimony at the TSA hearing:

http://hasbrouck.org/articles/SecureFlight-20SEP2007.pdf

Comments of the Identity Project:

http://hasbrouck.org/IDP/IDP-SecureFlight-comments.pdf

The proposals have drawn even more attention, and criticism, in Canada  
than in the USA, particularly because of the requirement for  
passengers on flights to and from Canada that overfly the USA -- even  
if they don't stop in the USA -- to be "cleared" by the TSA.  That  
means that the USA government would have complete records of everyone  
who travels between Canada and Cuba, and would be able to subject them  
to harassment if they subsequently visit the USA.  One wonders what  
would happen if Cuba began requiring passengers on flights overflying  
Cuba to be reported to, and obtain advance permission from, the Cuban  
government.  I haven't yet visited Cuba, but I've flown over it  
numerous times -- most recently just last month -- on flights between  
Miami, other USA cities, and Latin America.

Meanwhile, the Identity Project's requests under the Privacy Act have  
uncovered many more details (and many more problems) with the USA  
government's dossiers of travel records, which include everything from  
what books travellers were carrying to phone numbers of friends and  
associates to whether they asked for one bed or two in their hotel  
room.  If you want tio know what the government knows about *your*  
travels, we've posted forms to request your own files (again,  
regardless of whether you are a citizen of the USA):

http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/001292.html

When I haven't been tilting at travel surveillance windmills, I've  
been continuing my personal journey on a long loop from Buenos Aires  
through northwestern Argentina, as far north into Bolivia as Sucre and  
Potosi (site of the silver mines that were the source of the wealth of  
the Spanish empire) and across the Andes to the Atacama desert of  
Chile (site of the copper mines that are the soruce of Chile's wealth  
today, and whose nationalization was the reason the USA instigated the  
coup that brought the military dictatorship to power and started the  
"dirty war" in Chile).  Now I'm in the middle of a long road trip by  
rental car south down the desert coast toward Valparaiso and then  
Santiago.  You can read more about my trip in my partner Ruth  
Radetsky's blog:

http://www.radetsky.org/trip

I'll have more travel news and lessons in future newsletters as my  
trip continues.  Wherever *you're* going, have a wonderful trip!

-- 
Edward Hasbrouck
<edward at hasbrouck.org>
<http://hasbrouck.org>
+1-415-824-0214

"The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World"
(4th edition 2007, now in bookstores)
"The Practical Nomad Guide to the Online Travel Marketplace"
<http://www.practicalnomad.com>

Around-the-World and multi-stop international air tickets:
http://www.airtreks.com/tools/landing.php?ref=EH&dst=MAIN