TASK DEFINITION: Given a travel related situation, and given a specific question about the situation, summarize the question into a title
PROBLEM: I am opening up this thread to know from fellow travelers who are planning to visit tje EU (Spain in particular) from the US. I plan to travel somewhere in December 2018 around Christmas time, go to India after staying there for 7-10 days, and return to the US by the 4th week of January.

Do I need to apply for a Schengen visa in advance, or can I get visa on arrival as I am a valid US non permanent resident? Also, I do not have an H-1B visa stamped in my passport, but I have an approved I-797A (Notice of H-1B visa approval). 

Please let me know if something is not clear from my end, looking forward to hearing.

Thanks.


SOLUTION: Indian citizen with valid H1-B visa until 11/2020. Do I need to apply for Schengen visa?

PROBLEM: I am buying a train ticket from Paris to Düsseldorf (Thalys). Can I hop off in Köln to spend sometime and then hop on an RE (regional train) on the same day (within half of a day)? Or do I have to buy a separate tickets? I know I cannot board the Thalys again, because it requires a seat reservation.


SOLUTION: When going by a train from Paris to Düsseldorf (Thalys), can I hop off in Köln and then hop on again?

PROBLEM: Having spent a bit too much time in the pocket of my trousers, the name and emblem of my country have been erased from the front of my passport. The relief is still visible if you look at it under a lamp, but at first glance the front is entirely red with no text or graphics. To know what country I live in, you'd have to look at the page opposite the laminated information page.

In addition, the pages are rather ragged, although there are no tears, water damage or similar.

Is my passport now "damaged" enough that I will not be let into countries with strict border guards? It has worked fine for the occasional passport check at airports in Schengen, but I suspect border guards in Turkey or China may be considerably stricter.


SOLUTION:
Name and emblem of country no longer visible on front of passport -- is it "damaged"?