Hot damn I need a vacation.

Today's debate: The United States Virgin Islands.

Discuss.

Oh? You wanted background? Ok here goes.

One of my bosses is travelling to the US Virgin Islands for a conference in December. I am in charge of making his travel arrangements. Flight debacle aside (no direct flights, transfers and ferries between islands...), I seem to have hit a little roadblock. I have to file a travel request and designate each trip as domestic or international travel.

Now I did a little research here.

From Wikipedia:

"The United States Virgin Islands are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The U.S. Virgin Islands consist of the four main islands of St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Water Island, and many smaller islands. It is the only part of the United States where traffic drives on the left."

Just in case you needed to know where to drive. But I digress.

I realize that the Wikipedia is an often-disputed source.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

"Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia compiled by a distributed network of volunteers, has often come under attack by academics as being shoddy and full of inaccuracies. Even Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says he wants to get the message out to college students that they shouldn’t use it for class projects or serious research.

Speaking at a conference at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday called “The Hyperlinked Society,” Mr. Wales said that he gets about 10 e-mail messages a week from students who complain that Wikipedia has gotten them into academic hot water. “They say, ‘Please help me. I got an F on my paper because I cited Wikipedia’” and the information turned out to be wrong, he says. But he said he has no sympathy for their plight, noting that he thinks to himself: “For God sake, you’re in college; don’t cite the encyclopedia.”

Message received. Loud and clear. So I called in a second opinion.

From the CIA World Factbook:

History: During the 17th century, the archipelago was divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish portion, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery in 1848.

Dependency Status: Organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior.

Chief of State: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)

Head of Government: Governor Dr. Charles Wesley TURNBULL (since 5 January 1999)

Alrighty then. Good old Georgie is in charge. I decide to go with domestic.

But apparently I am wrong. I am told to file for international travel. WHAT?

Further Research:

The US Census Bureau charts the population.

Do we need passports to go to the US Virgin Islands? From the US Department of State:
Q. Will travelers from U.S. territories need to present a passport to enter the United States?

No. These territories are a part of the United States. U.S. citizens returning directly from a U.S. territory are not considered to have left the U.S. territory and do not need to present a passport. U.S. territories include the following: Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Therefore I conclude that the US Virgin Islands, as they are considered a part of the United States, should not be considered foreign travel.

If you want to argue that they aren't states, that's fine. Neither is Washington DC. Do you consider that foreign travel?

Not contiguous you say? Well neither are Hawaii and Alaska.

DISCUSS.