Visas and the golden rule

Visas are all set for the trip. If I end up anywhere else that requires a visa, I will have to get the visa from the nearest consulate.

It is interesting that every time I walk into a country's consulate office in the US, it immediately feels like I am already in that particular country. I often feel the same way when I as soon as I get on an international flight to a particular country. It guess it is the people that give each country its "feel", more so than the history, economy, infrastructure, etc.

For each visa that I have applied for, the cost of the visa is significantly more for US citizens than for other citizens. This may be due in large part to the fact that the US charges so much for visas ($131). Other countries apply reciprocity and use a variant of the golden rule: screw others the same way as they screw you.