Albert Gea/Reuters Before you travel, always check if the country you're visiting requires your passport to be valid for a certain amount of time. When in doubt, update your passport sooner than later. Not checking passport requirements almost forced me to cancel a trip. In March 2017, I was getting ready for my ten day trip to Japan, a journey I'd always dreamed about. Everything was set for my friend and I to have an amazing trip, there was just one problem.