Still no passport? How about these options?

Planning a last-minute getaway to Mexico or the Caribbean later this month or next? Or a flight to a Canadian ski resort ?

If so, you'd better have a passport by Jan. 23, when new rules require all air travelers — including children — returning (or arriving) in the United States to have a passport.

If you don't have a passport and don't want to get one in a hurry, here are some alternatives — given that land and sea travelers to Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico don't yet need one.

• Take a cruise that visits Mexican or Caribbean ports. Sea and land travelers won't need a passport for those destinations until 2008 at the earliest — and perhaps not until 2009.

• Stay within the 50 states; take a beach getaway to Hawaii or Florida.

• For something a bit more exotic that doesn't require a passport, head to one of the U.S. territories. They include Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. You're not considered to have left the United States when visiting such places.

• Instead of flying across the border into Mexico (for which you'll soon need a passport), drive or take a bus. From San Diego, head for Tijuana or Rosarito in Baja California; from Tucson, Ariz., drive to Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point, a beach community.

Even though you may be able to drive or take a ferry or cruise ship across some borders without yet having a passport, you still must have some formal identification.

Be aware that U.S. law requires you to document both your U.S. citizenship and identity when you re-enter the United States. That means returning from a weekend trip to Vancouver, B.C., with just a driver's license technically is not enough since a license doesn't prove your citizenship.

While the best document to prove U.S. citizenship is a valid passport, there are other options. According to the State Department's Web site, other documents that establish U.S. citizenship include an expired U.S. passport; a certified copy of your birth certificate; a Certificate of Naturalization; a Certificate of Citizenship; or a Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. citizen.

To prove your identity (if you aren't traveling with a passport), you need either a valid driver's license or government identification with a photo.

Travelers who don't have sufficient documents could have difficulty and delays in returning to the United States. They likely would need to undergo secondary screening, with citizenship being checked through databases.

Some material from the Associated Press is included in this report.