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Date:   Mon, 10 Dec 2001 14:57:40 -0800
Reply-To:   Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Sender:   Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:   Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Subject:   Border crossings made easy? [long]
Comments:   To: Matthew Pollard <poll7356@UIDAHO.EDU>
In-Reply-To:   <Pine.GHP.4.30.0112101033360.262-100000@falcon.csrv.uidaho.edu>
Content-Type:   text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

At 10:35 AM -0800 12/10/01, Matthew Pollard wrote: >Going into Canada they will take everything apart and put it all back >together perfectly. But Going into the US from canada, they take >everything apart and leave it that way!

That's been my experience the few times I have ever been searched, but I'm hesitant to make an association between nationality and professionalism or courtesy. It seems to me that border guard work attracts individuals with a certain... psychological profile, shall we say.

I've had no serious problems with US or Canadian border people, nor with Mexican federales (and we've driven our bus through 17 Mexican states). I may well be just plain lucky. However, I do have some guidelines I *suspect* ease things along for me:

- I *never* carry anything in the bus I could get busted for. (Support the local economy!) - Don't hot box in the bus for at least a few days before the crossing. Don't try to cover up with incense! - Lay off the personal scent, *especially* patchouli! - Wash your clothes. Hell, if you can, iron them. - Remove your "US out of North America" button from your jacket. - I mount all my bumper stickers on magnetic backing, since I like to rotate them. At the border, I remove and store them. - Don't look affluent - Don't look real poor, either - Especially for Mexico: Don't have your bus too shiny. If you have been putting off hitting those chips and dings with anti-rust paint, do it before you cross. Don't make the bus look beat or abused, just well-travelled and road worn. - Have all your papers in order ready to present. - Clean and tidy the bus before the crossing. Stow everything neatly. Prep the interior as if you were going to show it off to a few of your vanagon list friends. - Clean / brush hair / shave / complete other personal hygene tasks before crossing - Talk about benign stuff while waiting in the border line up -- you never know when you're being listened to. - Make sure your license plates are straight and legible so they can photograph & scan the plates -- make it easy on the guard. - Turn the stereo off at or near to the guard house - Speak up, speak clearly, and say sir or ma'am as appropriate. The only time I ever call anyone sir is to border guards and the cops. - Use proper English, never slang or colloquial turns of phrase. - Try not to hesitate before answering the no-brainer screening questions (citizenship, where do you live, purpose of trip, bringing anything with you, etc. etc). - Appear to (very) briefly consider questions other than those above before answering--you are really listening to the officer and value his/her questions. - Declare your booze, smokes, other dutiable purchases--it ain't worth the hassle, especially if you're on a long trip. Don't try to sneak fruit across. - Answer the question asked AND NO MORE without being cagey. - Smile a bit, be friendly. How would you like to ask the same questions all damn day long while breathing car fumes? - If you have a diesel or loud blown-muffler air-cooled bus, turn off your engine when you pull up to the guard house (* only if you think it'll restart!). - Clean millfoil and other weeds off your boat. - If you have any body or interior modifications on your bus and you are pulled over for inspection, take a minute to explain to the folks who will be doing the inspection where the mods are and why they are there. I spent most of a day in the desert in central Mexico with a group of teenaged DEA-funded agents who kept dropping screwdrivers into the gas tank of my old '76 westy because they were suspicious of the cut body work above the gas tank (cut made to allow easier replacement of the gas gauge sender). - Turn the propane *off* at the regulator before crossing. You don't want them twisting knobs and filling the bus with propane. - If permitted, stick around and watch the vehicle inspection. You can holler over to explain what something is and how it works. This usually results in starting a social exchange as the officers explore the bus and realize what a cool ride it is, and how they always wanted one, or how they took one down on a surfing trip years ago... - Display your vanagon.com sticker proudly!

Anything you can do to blend in with everyone else, look like a benign professional type, and make the guard's job easier will probably ease your way across a border. Probably.

Any other suggestions or experiences?

T.

-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tobin Copley Bowen Island, BC, Canada 49deg 23'N-123deg 19'W

'82 Westfalia 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky") '97 son Russell ============= '99 daughter Margaret /_| |_L| |__|:| clatter SPEED KILLS! {. .| clatter! Drive a Vanagon diesel ~-()-==----()-~


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