We’d be at the airport right now awaiting our flight to Edinburgh if my partner hadn’t gotten stuck in passport purgatory. Instead, we’ve canceled our flights. Canceled our accommodations (and are hoping for refunds). Canceled our car rental. And canceled our plans with friends whom we haven’t seen in over a decade.

You may have heard about people’s passport woes in the news. Similarly, we applied in March. The kids got theirs. My wife and I didn’t get ours. We tried to expedite and only mine was accepted. We contacted our U.S. Senator’s office and they contacted the passport agency, where after sitting in a pile somewhere for 15 weeks the passport agency contacted my wife and requested additional information.

There was no way we were going to make our trip on time. We decided to cancel and travel another time together instead of having a fractured family vacation with the kids and me in Scotland.

Have you been stuck in passport purgatory?