I love to plan trips.

Reading the guide books, creating an itinerary, even packing-- they're almost as exciting as the trip itself.

Not really, but you get the point.

But I don't like just everything about vacation preparation. Case in point: renewing my passport.

Passport photos are a huge waste of money. They're only about $7, but that seems ridiculous when you can buy other photos for just pennies apiece.

And besides, if I have to live with a photo of myself for 10 years, I want it to look good. I don't trust a drug store, AAA or any other common source of passport photos to tell me if I look like an idiot as I'm waiting for the bulb to go off, and I doubt they're going to give me a free do-over.

So I was determined to find a better way. And I did: ePassportPhoto.

Have your photo taken with a digital camera against a white or off-white background, following a few simple rules (details are on the site). My husband and I spent about 15 minutes taking several photos of each other, instantly deleting the pictures that made us look like a doofus.

Upload the picture of your choice to ePassportPhoto, crop to specifications, and save. I had photos of myself and my husband printed at a local drugstore for a grand total of 58 cents.

I have yet to send in the photos to actually renew my passport, so I'm still crossing my fingers that they won't be rejected.

Want to see the photo? That's going to require an in-person visit to me. Even the best of passport photos doesn't make you, me or anyone actually look good ... only better.