I used to think travelling abroad was simple. I’d choose a destination, book a flight, pack a bag, flash my US passport at the airport and be gone. But with the US passport this week dropping out of Henley Passport Index's 10 most powerful for the first time in 20 years, that sense of ease has shifted.
For many, travel cannot be spontaneous; it has to be strategic. It involves planning months ahead, budgeting for visa costs and sometimes facing rejection for reasons that feel arbitrary.
Recently, I’ve experienced these changes firsthand. When applying for an eVisa to Brazil just months after its new policy towards American citizens took effect in April, and when securing a visa for a trip to China not long before that.
Last month, I was in Beijing to cover the inaugural Zayed Charity Run. I hadn’t been to China – or, indeed, any country that required me to apply for a visa – in a long time. I assumed the process would be straightforward but, because I needed a visa, it turned out to be stressful, and expensive to boot.
This was my first time filling out a proper visa form. I found it complicated and even surprising because I had no idea it would require details about my parents and which countries I had visited in the past two years.
I was also running against a tight deadline, which added to the stress. After submitting the initial form, I had to provide flight and hotel bookings, again a novel experience for me, plus an NOC from my employer and a letter from the UAE embassy in China to expedite the process. I even had to pay a whopping Dh645 ($175).
Luckily, I got the visa in time, but it was a taxing experience.
While I’m grateful everything came together, I realise that what I’d always assumed was “normal” when it came to travel has actually just been privilege.
Living in the UAE, surrounded by people of so many nationalities, I’ve often heard about visa hurdles, denied applications and endless embassy visits. A friend who holds an Indian passport recently noted that nearly every trip he wants to take entails endless paperwork, embassy visits and, at times, cancellations if there are no available appointments.
I sympathised but, until I went through the process myself, I didn't truly understand just how cumbersome it can be. After all, the US passport offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry into 180 countries and territories, with only 46 countries requiring a visa to be secured before travel, the Henley Passport Index says.
Yet, as other countries continue to strengthen diplomatic ties and expand visa-free access, it doesn’t surprise me that the American passport has slipped in power. Still, I hope this trend prompts reflection – not just about rankings, but about what it means to move freely through the world and how easily things can change.
I am sure these factors don't bother many people with western passports, even as the US and UK have quietly weakened in recent years.
There’s also something quietly humbling about realising that a small book has shaped so much of how I see the world. It has determined where I could go, how easily I could get there and, in some ways, how I viewed other travellers. I used to take that ease for granted, unaware that the idea of moving freely across borders remains out of reach for many.
Maybe that’s what travel privilege is really about: the ability to move through the world assuming the doors will open, because they always have. It’s the luxury of spontaneity, of making plans without thinking twice about borders or bureaucracy.
For decades, Americans and other western passport holders have enjoyed that advantage, often without realising how extraordinary it is.
These days, as the global balance shifts and other countries rise in mobility and influence, things feel a bit different. I still have more access than most, but I don’t take it lightly any more.
