Many of us underestimate the importance and value of having a passport that allows us to travel the world. Today, many of us take a passport for granted since most people are able to travel freely with their passports and don’t take the time to understand the different types of passports that exist.

Colourful Passports
Most people know that passports across the globe differ in colour. What most people don't know is that the colour of passports reflect a country's value or national pride. For example, the black passports from New Zealand represent New Zealand's famous national rugby team, which is commonly known as the All Blacks.

Countries also change the colour of their passports based on interactions with different countries, international allies, or geographic location. For example, Britain changed the color of their passports to burgundy when joining the European Union which consists of member countries with burgundy passports.

Most Powerful Passports
The power of a passport is defined by the number of countries one is able to access—visa–free. Currently, Japan and Singapore are known to have the most powerful passports in the world which allows those who hold these passports to enter or travel to 189 countries without a visa.

In contrast the weakest passport in the world belongs to Afghanistan which gives holders of the Afghanistan passport access to merely 26 destinations. Fortunately, weaker passports have their own unique benefits. For example, people with a Namibia passport are one of the few people who can enter Angola without a visa. An Indian passport is one of the three countries that provides access to Bhutan, visa-free.

This leads us to ask: What's the point of having access to many destinations around the world?

The benefit of having a powerful passport is that one does not require a visa to enter certain countries which is often a hassle for most travellers. To obtain a visa, individuals are forced to fill never-ending forms, attend lengthy appointments, pay expensive fees, and prevent people from traveling freely—some visas require people to pre–book returning flights as evidence for one's intention to return to their home state.

Students' Perspectives
For students with powerful passports, it is important to recognize the privilege of being able to visit various places across the globe without much of a hassle. It reminds students to be grateful for the variety of opportunities that their passports provide access to. This is especially true when more and more students are traveling, whether that be because of a competition in another continent, a trip with friends and family, or an opportunity to pursue one's passion.

Even for students with less powerful passports, it is important to recognize the unique values and story that their passports represent and what makes each passport unique and special.