Good morning, all.

Thanks to a good-ol' Midwestern crime wave a few months back I have the opportunity to replace my leather passport cover (and passport, but that's another story).

I've found a company that will sell me a plain leather cover -- with free embossing, up to 15 characters.

So now I'm stumped.

Monogram? Eh.

Leave it plain? It's free embossing! A deal like that is once-in-a-lifetime!

No, the word must go forth. But which words?

Here are two I'm considering:

"More Pages" in homage to the St. Augustine quote about non-travelers not being very enthusiatic readers;

and "Don't Panic," which has its own charms.

If you could put any 15 letters on the front of your passport, what would they be? And in what order (that's important!)?

Thanks all.

"Don't lose me!!!"

Not bad -- but "Don't Steal Me" might be more appropriate in this case.

Hmm... that could work.

Any others?

You could try "Work to wander", or some variation of that.

Anselm

How 'bout "STOLEN"

If you really want to put thieves off, how about "contains nothing of value" or "FORGED!!"

But you'd have to keep taking it out at immigration.

There's a couple of quotation from TS Eliot's "Four Quartets":

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

Or

"Here and there does not matter
We must be still and still moving"

How about "Know the place" or "Still moving"?

My vote would certainly go for "Don't Panic" in large, friendly letters.

If most thieves are male -- and if your primary interest is to discourage theft -- why not emboss it:

"The Bridges of Madison County"?

I wouldn't put Don't Panic on something I was going to take onto an airplane. ya never know, someone might think it's a threat. (don't panic, but put your hands up). I also wouldn't put Don't Steal Me on it, b/c that's just too irresistible.

how about E Ticket to Ride? (E Ticket from the best Disney rides - i.e. adventures, and Ticket to Ride because you need it to get where you are going?)

you might have to make it ETicket, drat.

The reusable toilet paper alternative.

I wouldn't want to touch that.

These would deter most:

Shakespeare Abridged
Best-loved Sonnets
Calculous Short-cuts

(You get the idea)

Or maybe something philosophical:
C'est la Vie

Or perhaps simply:
Expired

Or maybe:
Property of CIA

YES-MAKE MY DAY

- or -

[your passport number]

- or -

FREE EMBOSSING

Contaminated ?

You people crack me up. Keep 'em coming!

<b><font color="red">**</font> <font color="blue">BIOHAZARD</font> <font color="red">**</font> </b>

&quot;Travel is fatal&quot;

(a piece of this Mark Twain quote):

&quot;Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.&quot;

-or-

&quot;Travel light&quot;

(from Casare Pavese), &quot;If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.&quot;

-or-

&quot;New eyes&quot;

(from Marcel Proust), &quot;The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.&quot;

-or-

&quot;Time and Space&quot;

(from John Steinbeck), &quot;Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased.&quot;


(I saved all these great quotes from a previous Fodor's thread.)

But still, my favorite is probably your St. Augustine quote -

&quot;The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.&quot;


...and guffaws to Tegdale for &quot;Bridges of Madison County&quot;

I submit:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Viaggio, ergo sum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best wishes,

Rex

Rex and Robespierre: excellent suggestions. But they are all pretty good... &quot;Bridges of Madison County&quot; is hilarious. I wouldn't touch that one with a ten foot pole.

Since half the pickpockets are female, <u>Bridges</u> might be a suboptimal strategy.