A snag in my blissful European existence: a work permit hasn't been organized, and as of Wednesday I will hit my 90-day mark in the Schengen Area. Schengen, for those who don't know, is a group of 25 European countries that basically operate as a single state when it comes to border control. Once you enter Schengen (say you pop into Germany, as I did on May 31) you can move seamlessly across all Schengen borders without whipping out your passport. It's actually pretty nice.
If you're American, however, you're only allowed to be in the Schengen Area for 90 days every 180 days. Through some snafu I don't yet understand, I don't have a permit that will let me stay beyond the 90 days, so I have to leave Schengen by Wednesday, August 31 in order to be on the right side of the law. That means I'm off to London to cool my heels for a few days. My company seems to think it will be no problem getting back into Poland once I have a fresh stamp in my passport, but the State Department (and Schengen) seem to indicate otherwise. Obviously I encourage everyone to place bets on whether the Polish border agents will simply skip over/ignore my previous Schengen stamp, or whether I will be sent back to London to wait out the required 90 days. The upside: hey, I could start a London version of our guidebook series. The downside: holy fuck. I mean...ho-ly fuck. I guess being an international passport fugitive could be sort of cool?
! Dude. Have fun in London, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for no prob on re-entry.
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