[nagnatron]

The passport fee is not the problem. Until relatively recently I've had to(and still do for some countries) also provide a lot of paperwork and pay a visa fee to go to a neighboring country.

And I know 100$ sounds like not much but consider that my parents were not of means in a country of a rather low standard of living.

This may not be what the author meant with this paragraph but it's what resonated with me.