HI Reader,

This time last week, I should have been on my way to Birmingham Airport to fly to Alicante, Spain.

Instead I was in Sainsbury's in Wolverhampton buying some consolation chocolate biscuits and blood orange juice, which I planned to mix with prosecco later for a "staycation sunrise".

The reason?

My passport wasn't valid to travel to the EU.

I thought I'd be fine. I had more than 6 months left. But reading the little notice on the Ryanair app check in, not just about expiration but also the issue date, my heart sank.

My passport had been issued in July 2017, 2 weeks over the 10 years allowed.

As I hadn't been aware of the rule before, I wondered how strict it was.

• Could I try my luck?
• Would there be any grace period and they'd let me through?
• Would I be turned away either as I was boarding or sent home from Spain?

I knew I didn't want to risk it so I started investigating.

I tried asking the Ryanair Chatbot. Didn't get any useful answers. Asked to speak to a human. Help desk closed at 8pm. 🙄

The Google AI overview was much more helpful - summarising message boards where people were discussing similar problems to mine.

It quickly became clear that I would not be able to travel and I needed a new passport.

Suddenly this triggered a whole new plan. I had to get to Spain because it was a celebration for all the big birthdays in my family.

So...

I booked an urgent appointment at Liverpool passport office on Monday morning (the earliest available day)

Which including waking up very early to get a passport photo at ASDA (the mobile attempts were not passing the strict requirement test)

£239 later, I could shift my focus to actually getting to Spain.

This is where AI was particularly useful. ChatGPT helped me to weigh up options about whether to fly from Liverpool that afternoon, whether to drive up, or get the train back to Birmingham so I could fly out Tuesday morning.

Alongside my own ideas and my mum, it helped me to get to decisions more quickly than on my own.

(Maybe this is something an AI agents could do for me in the future, but when other things are out of my control, I like the agency of discussing the options. I'm also not into sharing my bank details with an autonomous agent.)

So on Monday I went to my appointment and while I was waiting got chatting to another lady in urgent need of a passport so she could travel to Turkey.

She too had been asking ChatGPT for help with what to do and the steps to take.

It didn't save the day, but it was a helpful tool in the process.

A year ago, I wouldn't have thought to use ChatGPT like this. I didn't have it as an app on my mobile.

For good or for bad, this time I'm glad for it.

And actually, apart from the underlying stress, I had a great time in Liverpool.

🛁 A trip to the largest Lush in the world - who knew there were so many types of bath bombs!

⛴️ A ferry on the Mersey

🥂 A bowl of scouse and a glass of prosecco for lunch - because I was counting it as my holiday already

And lots of ideas.

I got the passport, got my flight and now I'm on a terrace in Spain.

So don't do what I did.

If you're travelling abroad, double check the entry requirements, look at the issue date AND the expiry date on your passport. Otherwise it can get very expensive, and disappointing.

Happy summer!

Charlotte

How the cover was created

Liverpool gave me location ideas and it's fun (for me 🤪) to think of how real life situations can be translated to a world where humanoids, androids and humans live together.

If we have passports, what might an android have?

An identification patch which needs updating.

And where could they go for that?

Not Liverpool, but Datapool of course.

A lot of AI generated imagery has lots going on. It seems its default is to add as many words as possible.

So over the months, I've learned you need to be very specific with your ask.

I had the concept - minimal background, a facepalm expression over the realisation, a kind of Vertigo film poster / pop art style.

I uploaded a facepalm selfie as a guide for the generation, and discussed the concept some more with ChatGPT.

(This included the colours, the placement of the ID latch, the Vertigo style whirlpool in the background)

And when I made my final choices, it was time to generate.

This is my favourite to date.