For those of you who travel by air – which I assume is almost every single person reading this – you may want to check your state-specific laws for upcoming changes to using a driver license for airport identification. I had no idea this was even a thing until I randomly saw an article in my Google news feed as I was sipping my morning coffee.
In the state of Tennessee where I reside, beginning October 1, 2020 a regular driver license will be insufficient to pass through security. What will be required is a Real ID, which is basically the same thing as the license I have now, but with a gold star in the upper right corner. The documentation requirements to get the upgraded license are much more stringent, so I’ve been gathering up some recent utility bills and tax forms to go get this done soon.
Here’s a very helpful documentation list for my fellow Tennessee residents. Several states have already implemented this years ago, so you may be good to go if you live elsewhere.
If you have a passport, you can always use that as your main ID to fly, but I don’t ever travel with my passport unless I’m leaving the country. No need to risk losing something so valuable by carrying it around unnecessarily.
So yeah, going to the DMV is always a pain in the ass, but I’m all for additional effective security measures if it’ll help keep the scary people away from the airports.
Lite Adventurer 