International border crxings & passports

[shootingstar]

I had roommate from Malaysia who had 6 lbs. of fresh cherries confiscated at the airport when she went to home Malaysia.

I then realized at that time, cherries....are exotic in other parts of the world. Same with apples. Very expensive in the Philippines.

But back to border crossing checks.
a) When we took the Amtrak train to Seattle this past weekend, the U.S. authorities brought on their search police drugs on board to sniff out the whole 2 passenger cars with all passengers on board. All of us were asked to put all our luggage on the floor from overhead bins.

b) At another time, we were waiting at the border check station at one of the U.S. checkpoints about 2 yrs. ago ...I'm trying to remember if it was Port Townsend..it was town along the Washington coast where it was a ferry crossing point also between Canada and U.S. Anyway, I aimed my camera merely to the road/seaside, but one of the employees told me to put my camera away. No photos. I was not aiming camera at building.

c) when I mean challenged on my Canadian citizenship in Europe..that really means people yelling at us in a way, "Hello, you from Philippines?" Or "Are you from Japan?" It actually happened several different times in several countries on 1 European trip about 18 yrs. ago. To a point it got irritating.

Of course we yelled back: "We're from Canada." It wasn't a new experience to us. That experience has been here also in Canada in the past.

I don't remember real noticeable difficulties for checking us when taking train by ourselves through several different European countries. But our passports were looked at.

d) I believe my siblings each have their passports...for several decades. And they unlike me, also have driver's license with photo ID. But best to have the passport for the strongest proof of ID internationally.

e) I lost my wallet with my birth certificate, charge card on a local ferry to Nantucket Island. I did have my passport but with the loss of the birth certificate, I truly panicked. I felt very stripped and vulnerable...to prove where I was born. So the bike ride on Nantucket Island for me was overshadowed with this loss.

As soon as I returned to Canada, I reapplied for my birth certificate.
My wallet was returned by mail by the ferry company about 2 months later.
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As for the physical border between Canada and the U.S., I was a little surprised when I was with a good friend near Sarnia, Ontario. It was strange to see a river trickled down to nearly a stream, and just nearly a hop across was the U.S. There was no visible fence. Probably cameras and whatever other technology around.