The Passport Protector – review and interview with its founder

Patrick was eating at a Olive Garden in Buffalo, New York when he should have been enjoying fresh pizza at a sun-baked cafe in Rome.

A few days earlier on Friday in Charlotte, he had been leaving on a two week trip with his girlfriend to Europe. He couldn’t wait to see Cinque Terre’s famed breathtaking cliffs and explore Paris’ countless monuments. This moment had been six months in the planning. Deep inside him, the wanderlust was pounding its fists in excitement.

But at the airport, he got an unwelcome surprise. His passport was denied for wear and tear. The airport wouldn’t allow him on his flight. They could be fined and they weren’t going to let that happen.

He was shocked. But there was no way around it. Patrick and his girlfriend watched their plane take off without them. And with it went visions of seeing Arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower.

To salvage the remnants of their trip, they faced several challenges. First, they had to find a regional passport agency to order a new, rush passport. New Orleans and Buffalo were the only two that had availability on the next business day — Monday.

They picked Buffalo. And they sliced off segments of their itinerary, cancelling planned stops in Nice and Brussels.

Four days and $2500 to cover fees, cancellation notices, and wasted train tickets later, he was finally on the plane to Europe. But he couldn’t stop thinking about how to prevent this nightmare from happening again.

He needed a passport protector. Something hardcore, waterproof and sturdy. He needed something stronger than what a plastic baggy or leather protector could give. But he couldn’t find anything like that.

He decided to make his own. He wanted it to be “a hardcore case to withstand adventure travel but also having a innovative modern design that… looks smart enough for a business traveler.”

When he was in high school, the travel bug infected him. For him, travel isn’t just something you do — it’s a way to open your thinking. He believes that “travel creates a buffer or free space for people to interact and grow where they wouldn’t otherwise in their own comfort zone.”

While studying abroad in southern France, he fell in love with how life-changing travel can be. “Travel has opened my mind to so many ideas and my own views on life,” Patrick says. “In the States, we measure success based on our bank account; elsewhere I saw it measured in relationships. Open-mindedness, personal growth, and adventure don’t happen in a vacuum; they happen through experience.” That’s why a portion of proceeds from Passport Protector sales are donated to fund study abroad scholarships. One day he hopes to give away two scholarships a year.

Review on the Passport Protector

It claims to be small enough to fit into a jacket pocket, impact and water-resistant, and metal-free so you can pass through certain security checkpoints. The final version will be RFID blocking for extra protection.

Never one to back down from a good challenge, I tested this little guy and here’s what I found:

Water-resistant: when I ran water over it, my documents stayed dry. When I submerged it, it floated. Good news in the event that your boat capsizes, your documents won’t sink to the ocean’s bottom. But the bad news is when I opened it up, my IDs were wet and stuck together.

Size compatibility: Fits easily into man-pants pockets, large inner pockets in jackets and my Timbuk2 bag pockets. It doesn’t really fit into girl-pants’ pockets, but then neither does anything larger than lip gloss and a credit card.

Impact resistant: I held back a little on this test for fear of possibly totally damaging the prototype (I do have to return it!). But I discovered the protector will survive if you accidentally sat on it, or sleep on your bag in an airport. The hard plastic bends slightly, but doesn’t break. It also doesn’t seem to scratch easily.

What I liked:

– The smooth, hard feel of the plastic case. It feels sturdy. It feels like it can handle what I dish out.

– It’s wide enough to fit my passport (and my husband’s), some money and credit cards. Possibly, it could fit an ID if you did some creative arranging.

– Water resistant: I’m the person who’s forever spilling coffee or beer on herself. My gear needs to be able to withstand an unexpected soaking.

What I disliked:

– The rubber top on my prototype was a little hard to finagle. The rubber tab to keep the top in place wouldn’t stay in the hole. But that’s just a preliminary issue. Patrick says the final lid will close tighter on the finished model.

– Not completely waterproof. Again, this seems to be a prototype quirk. I’m told the final version will have a more rigid rubber top. Hopefully that means it’ll be completely waterproof as well.

– It doesn’t fit my phone. My iPhone is just a smidgeon too wide to fit into the case.

Where to get it:

You can get one during Passport Protector’s crowdfunding campaign that ends June 9th. Here’s the link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-passport-protector

If you miss that, sign up at their website for notifications when the final version is ready.

Laura blogs at Waiting To Be Read where she explores the benefits of reading and traveling, is forever making “best of” lists, and writes book reviews with actors cast as main characters.