The problem was when I caught COVID while on a trip to Vancouver. I was getting very sick and needed to get back home ASAP, but since I took the train I couldn't drive. All the car rental companies in the area were completely booked out. I thought, "Great, I guess I'll just go to the airport and catch a flight," except since I had crossed by land on the way in I didn't have the document I needed to fly out.
Fortunately I was able to find a bus early the next morning, but it was looking pretty sketchy for a few hours until I could figure out how to get back home. After that experience I'll never travel out of the country again without my actual passport.
> The booklets and stickers should be done away with.
I would prefer that stickers continue to be used, but have cryptographic information in them and partially derived from information on the passport book itself.