Depending on the country, even just a plain DL works. My license was valid to drive a rental car in Iceland, and I assume it would be in other countries too. I got my passport renewed about a year ago after being expired, and I feel fortunate I was able to afford to do it when I did.

Whoops! I meant to reply to the person you were replying to. I thought they got EDLs and Real IDs mixed up. You are correct, EDLs are for the express purpose of making land/sea crossing easier for people who live in states near int’l borders, though not all border states issue them.

High key, I started carrying my passport everywhere with me and I have multiple copies of my, my husband’s, and my kids’ birth certificates and social security cards in a folder that I also have in a portable container. I haven’t added a bug out bag to my car yet, but I will soon.

I flew to Iceland 4 days after the Toronto crash and it was the first time in my life I was nervous to fly. I was also worried I wouldn’t be let back in the country because my passport has a gender X marker. These concerns should be absurd.

³ EDLs are Real ID compliant, but not all Real ID compliant IDs are EDLs. EDLs are for internat’l crossing by land/sea w/o a passport, only issued by some states, & prove US Citizenship. Real IDs are for domestic flights, access to federal facilities, & only proves residency.

² Real ID was supposed to be a program for federally standard ID requirements after 9/11. We didn’t have one prior to that and DLs were de facto proof of ID even though some DLs didn’t require a whole lot of proof to get.

¹ They’re not quite the same. Real ID is a standard for identity verification. American DLs weren’t meant to prove identity so at one point almost anyone could get one. In Missouri, German exchange students at my school would get a DL to bypass the long and expensive process in Germany.

What a lovely thing to wake up to