Uh Oh! Chet Hanks, 35, Tom’s Son, Stranded in Colombia After Passport Problem
Leave it to Chet Hanks to turn a routine trip to Medellín into a full-blown passport crisis — and ya know he has to document the whole thing on Instagram, naturally. Tom Hanks’ younger son is currently stuck in Colombia after making a travel decision that sounded reasonable at the time but backfired spectacularly.
Potential Passport Problem
The younger Hanks, who holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Greece, chose to travel with his Greek passport because his American one was close to expiring. His logic? Airlines sometimes deny boarding to passengers whose passports are too close to their expiration date, even if they technically haven’t expired yet. Fair enough reasoning – until it wasn’t.
What Actually Happened to Chet Hanks in Colombia
Here’s where things get messy. Hanks flew from Puerto Rico – where he had been celebrating a friend’s birthday – to Medellín on a whim, just to visit another friend named Taylor. A spontaneous side trip. No big deal, right? Wrong.
When he showed up at the airport three hours early for his return flight to the United States, airline officials informed him that traveling on a foreign passport meant he needed a green card to re-enter America. Hanks, being a U.S. citizen, obviously doesn’t have a green card – because why would he? He doesn’t need one. But without his American passport on hand, he had no way to prove his right to re-enter the country. Not good.
His options? Head to the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá – about an hour’s flight from Medellín – to obtain emergency travel documentation. The problem is, Hanks made it very clear he does not want to go to Bogotá. So for now, he’s staying put and captioning his posts with “Free me.”
The Internet Had a Field Day – and the “Cast Away” Jokes Were Inevitable
The comments section did not hold back. One follower suggested someone FedEx his passport to him as soon as possible, to which another person immediately replied that dad Tom Hanks “doesn’t have the best of luck with FedEx.” Funny! That’s a direct reference to “Cast Away,” the 2000 film in which his father Tom plays a FedEx employee stranded on a deserted island for four years. Oh the irony!
Even those who weren’t cracking jokes seemed mildly impressed by the chaos of the whole situation. Chet Hanks, to his credit, appeared to be taking it in stride – sharing clips from a dance club in Medellín on his Instagram Stories the same night and posting a gym selfie with the caption “Estamos bien, no te preocupes.” Translation: “We’re fine, don’t worry.”
Chet Hanks in Colombia Isn’t the Tragedy He’s Making It Out to Be
Look, the younger Hanks himself admitted that “there are worse places to be stuck.” And he’s right. Medellín has transformed dramatically over the past two decades into one of South America’s most vibrant cities – stunning architecture, incredible food, and a nightlife scene that apparently keeps Hanks busy enough. The man went clubbing. He’s not exactly roughin’ it.
Still, the situation is definitely frustrating from a logistical standpoint. Emergency travel documentation through an embassy is not instantaneous, and the trip to Bogotá to resolve it is an annoying but necessary step that Hanks apparently seems determined to delay for as long as possible.
Will Chet Hanks Go to Bogotá?
Hanks currently stars in “Running Point” on Netflix, playing Travis Bugg, a loose-cannon basketball player with an on-screen addiction arc that mirrors parts of his own life. He celebrated three years of sobriety in 2025 and has been candid about his recovery journey. Last year, he told Esquire he wants people to understand that “your life completely changes in ways that you’re not going to be able to understand until you just do it.”
So whatever you think about Hanks, the guy is clearly in a better headspace than he’s been in the past. Being stranded in Colombia is an inconvenience, not a catastrophe – and the fact that he’s handling it with humor says something. Someone just needs to remind him that Bogotá is only an hour away.
