e are pleased to begin issuing letterpress-printed passports to those interested in becoming a citizen of the Nation of Nowhere. This is an idea inspired by Jan Morris’s book Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere where she writes:

“There are people everywhere who form a Fourth World, or a diaspora of their own. They are the lordly ones! They come in all colours. They can be Christians or Hindus or Muslims or Jews or pagans or atheists. They can be young or old, men or women, soldiers or pacifists, rich or poor. They may be patriots, but they are never chauvinists. They share with each other, across all the nations, common values of humour and understanding. When you are among them you know you will not be mocked or resented, because they will not care about your race, your faith, your sex or your nationality, and they suffer fools if not gladly, at least sympathetically. They laugh easily. They are easily grateful. They are never mean. They are not inhibited by fashion, public opinion or political correctness. They are exiles in their own communities, because they are always in a minority, but they form a mighty nation, if they only knew it. It is the nation of nowhere . . . .”

Occasionally one crosses paths with a person from this Fourth World either in one’s travels or, if you are truly fortunate, at home. When you do encounter such a person, you want to stop them in their tracks and share a little more of your world with them. They are, as Jan Morris says, always in a minority. The difference between ours and yours is a simple y, which is a question. And the question might be why can’t this self-divided world belong to ours and yours? It is, perhaps, too simple a question but we often look for too complicated an answer. Some of us are citizens of a Nation of Nowhere but have never expressed it that way. Nowhere? That idea may seem unpatriotic to some, but it may be the most patriotic notion there is, if you consider a patriot loves his homeland and is willing to defend it. What if your homeland extends beyond political boundaries and you were an unrestricted patriot? Where do the boundaries stop that you are willing to defend? For one person it might be an olive tree no matter where in the world it grows. We want to meet that person. He or she may be a citizen of this other world, this Nation of Nowhere. It is, after all, simply a state of mind.

Citizenship to the Nation of Nowhere is open to everyone but in order to purchase our very real passport indicating your citizenship, we want you to give the idea a little thought. And therefore, to apply for this passport, write a brief statement (or even an essay, if you get carried away) describing why you want to be a part of the Nation of Nowhere or what such a nation might mean to you. We ask you to envision a nation which embraces the very best from a country, real or imagined. Write about what you admire in your own country, things that you hold as a universal good. Tell us about the kind of nation that might not exist today but should exist, in your opinion.

You may consider this passport of the Nation of Nowhere as an adjunct to your regular passport; hold it as dearly as the other and have it stamped by the customs agent. He is beginning to discover that we exist.

The passport measures 5 inches by 3.5 inches. The cover is stamped in genuine gold, is hand sewn and never expires. It carries no baggage other than the good faith and open-mindedness of its carrier.

Please send your statement, a passport photo, your name as it should appear on your passport, your date of birth and $35. Please add tax if you are in California. Please add $3. shipping for U.S. destinations, otherwise add actual cost to your location. You will receive your personalized, letterpress passport as soon as we can assemble it.

If this passport gives its bearer one thing it is this: permission to travel with renewed eyes, to see our world a little differently.

And a final note from Jan Morris:

I was the world in which I walked, and what I saw
Or heard or felt came not but from myself.