Vote While You Travel, and Vote If You Travel

As a current or hope-to-be traveler, politics and decisions made by your government affect you whether you stump for your candidate or forego the voting process: elected officials, or public servants chosen by them, dictate how citizens travel (think about airport security), and where citizens of some countries are allowed to travel. Like US citizens. Over the last couple of years, for instance, the vast majority of US students have essentially lost the right to travel to Cuba for study because of political stances and complex economic juju. And US citizens may need permission to travel out of the USA at all as of 2007. Whatever your feelings about the rationale behind those decisions may be, you can help make your own travel decisions by helping elect those who make laws.

Travel is a great and wonderful education. However, as Miami-Dade politican David Rivera said regarding educational travel to Cuba, "Legislators just don’t pay too much attention to what academics think."

Well, they pay attention to votes. If you're traveling, you can do it by absentee ballot. It's your travel.

_{Related: How to Get an Absentee Ballot: Democrat / Republican | How to Get an International Snail Mail Address | Florida Sued Over Cuba Travel Ban | Florida Bill Cuts Cuba Student Travel | Minnesota School Pays Fine for Cuba Travel | Europe for Visitors: Prior Restraint Comes to the Travel World}