The first time I visited Europe, borders were essentially the same as state borders in the United States. After arriving and clearing immigration, you could travel freely from country to country. This was possible because more than 20 countries signed and followed the terms of the Schengen Agreement. The UK and Ireland never signed, but Switzerland, Norway and Iceland all signed despite not holding EU membership.
The map above shows how things have changed. Yesterday (January 4th, 2016), Sweden joined France, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Austria in implementing border controls on all passports. I want to run marathons in Switzerland and Sweden in June so it looks like I’ll be getting both stamps.
I’m guessing Sweden is trying to keep refugees at bay. Personally, I think open borders are our best chance at understanding each other. See any twitter feed for differing opinions.
So that’s the bad. Let’s move to some good news. Brazil is lifting the visa requirements for US, Australian, Canadian and Japanese citizens from June 1st to September 18th to maximize tourism for the 2016 Olympics.
Brazilian visas are notoriously painful for Americans to obtain. Outside the waiver window, Brazilian visa requirements mirror US requirements for Brazilian citizens wanting to visit the US. We have very invasive requirements.
On a final note, let’s remember that our Summer is Brazil’s winter. This means about 75 of the coolest days have opened up for marathoners looking to snag a Brazilian flag. Unfortunately, it looks like all of the Brazilian marathon organizers decided to take this summer (winter) off. I’m hoping they are just slow at updating their websites.
I routinely find fares to Brazil out of DC in the $450-500 range. Let me know if you need any help booking flights.
