What to Know: International Drivers Permit

For travelers in the United States with a US driver's license, you may be aware that your valid license can be used for renting cars and driving in Canada, Mexico, and all US territories (like Puerto Rico). What you may not have known is that for as little as $20, you can also drive in over 150 countries worldwide!

The International Drivers Permit is a travel document that allows individuals with a valid US drivers license to legally drive without further tests or applications in countries that accept the IDP. In countries like Italy, it's required even for renting scooters, so the investment is worthwhile, even if you don't have plans at the moment.

Valid for a period of 1 year, the process is very simple. Our preference is to use AAA Motor Club services (you don't have to be a

AAA member), starting by downloading the application form here. You just need to have your license handy. It does ask which country(ies) you plan to visit, but that information is more for information not that it limits the use to those countries. When Chris filled out his application, he put all the countries we've visited in the past year and those we plan or aspire to visit in the coming year, just in case. The other thing to note is that you have to provide two dates:

1) the date you want the permit to become valid (can't be more than 6 months away). Be mindful of this date, because your permit will be valid for 1yr from this date.

2) the date you plan to being using the permit. Not sure why this is important, but it should be equal to or greater than the date you want the permit to be valid.

You can mail, call for an appointment, or walk in to your local AAA office to complete the process. It costs $20 per person, with an additional amount for them to take the 2 passport photos, if you haven't brought them with you. After they verify your information, you will have your permit in hand - about 10-15 minutes!

Our plan is to keep these with our passports, because you never know when adventure calls for renting a car or scooter!