Last Chance Tourism
I don’t want to miss Greenland looking like Greenland. I’ve always wanted to go to Greenland (though the kids have begged me to expand my trip suggestions beyond cold islands), but it’s clearly changing. And while it may still remain mostly Greenland-esque in my lifetime, still, in the back of my mind is a ticking clock wondering how long we have to see places before they change completely.
The kids want to go to Venice. They’re scared that the flooding will shut down sections of the city in the future and they’ll miss out. (I want to go back to Venice because I haven’t been since reading The Magicians. And now that I know about the dragons…)
Of course, there’s the question of travel itself, which adds to worldly wear and tear. Is it ethical to travel knowing that travel itself damages the earth?
I just learned the term Last Chance Tourism — going to places before they’re gone. That is exactly what we did a few summers ago when we went to see the Old Man of Hoy in Scotland. I had read an article that the sea stack was showing signs that it may collapse. And it broke my heart to think about never seeing it. So we took a boat to Orkney that would pass it. It was just as spectacular as I hoped.
But learning that term, it made me think about the other places in the world that I’d be devastated to miss, whether they are gone or I’m gone.
Which places are on your list?
9 comments
Yes, I think about it a lot. Not just the places that are disappearing because our world is changing, but also places that may become impossible to get to because of political and economical changes.
Right now, travel is very accessible to us, as middle-class Americans. We don’t even need visas to travel to many places in the world. Imagine if that changes – if air travel becomes 10 times as expensive…. or because of political situation in the US, we will no longer be able to easily travel to Europe… Or we’ll be banned from entering Russia or China. Or if, G-d forbid, another world war breaks out and all goes pear-shape. Forget travel then, it would be all about survival…
I want to take my kids on a safari in South Africa, to see giraffes and elephants in their natural habitat, before they are extinct. And then I think about the carbon footprint of such a trip, and the privilege, and I don’t know what to do.
My loss is Aleppo, my home for 2 years. I doubt I will ever be able to share the place I knew and loved with my children, and that makes me profoundly sad.
I have wanted to visit Venice for years, and like you, I worry that it will be adversely affected by flooding. I’ve also wanted to go to the Bahamas, but in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, that probably won’t be a good place to visit for a while.
I have thought about things that are no longer as they were and won’t be in the future….it’s a hard pill to swallow at times.
Today I just read about “travel shame” = not traveling by planes because of how bad the carbon footprint is and using slower alternate modes of transport. (It isn’t necessarily a bad term.) I do like that idea and do try to use the public buses, train or walk, but you know, to see my family half way around the world…until they find a more earth friendly and relatively just as fast mode of transport, I’m going to fly to see them.
I’ve been to the Columbia Icefields in Banff National Park in Alberta, in 1968 & 1975 with my parents, and on my honeymoon with dh in 1985. When we went then, we noticed there were signs along the road leading to the glaciers, showing where the glacier had been in 1890, 1900 & so on up to the present day. We had to drive a LONG way from the 1890 sign to get to where the glacier was then. I had dh take my photo standing behind the 1975 sign, and it was astounding to see how far the tip of glacier had receded in just 10 years. I shudder to think of how much further it must have shrunk, almost 35 years later, particularly as global warming has accelerated…! Which makes me want to get back there again ASAP. I’ve long wanted to take a cruise to Alaska, and I think that should probably be one of our travel priorities, for the same reason. 🙁
We took our kids to the Great Barrier Reef this summer partly for this reason (although P was too little to remember it, it was something E will never forget). We were already in Australia, but the irony of taking a flight to go see something that is being killed by climate change was not lost on me.
The idea of avoiding air travel is striking a chord with me. We take one of the longest trips on earth every two years, but that is to see my husband’s family and I don’t see that as optional. But I have been feeling lately that we need to counterbalance this by not taking other flights for fun (and by refusing to go to work conferences that require a flight).
I do feel it would be unethical to start flying all over the world to show my kids places that will disappear. But the world they will inherit as adults is going to be so different. It feels me with equal parts rage and despair anytime I think about it.
I think this is one of the reasons why, when we travel, we tend to go for a long time, travelling by train or more sustainable reasons between locations. Also just because our flights are so LOOOOONG and expensive. But I have a similar dilemma in that whilst I would love to do a cruise to Antarctica (the only realistic way to get there), I don’t think I can bring myself to do it, simply because I think cruises are not helping the environment there.
I mourn a lot of places that have changed since I was first there. I was lucky to go to Vietnam and Cambodia before they opened up to the world (before the US embargo on travel to Vn was lifted, for example). My fond memories of Bangkok in 1980 are of a city that has changed a lot, and my fond memories of Phuket in 1988 are of a beach and resort that no longer exists, changed beyond all recognition (on my last trip in 2012). So I know how lucky I have been.
Venice though is one place I would take the kids, for a couple of days. Go in winter, when the hordes have receded somewhat. Take the train. I will never forget my reaction of first seeing Venice from the train station. It was thrilling and moving and completely unforgettable.
Maldives has been on my Last Chance list, but I think I can cope without getting there. But I have lots of places still on my Must-Visit-Before-I-Die list. Peru and Egypt are probably top of that list. And I really really want to see some puffins.
Puffins! I want to see puffins, too. My mom and stepfather went to Alaska this since, and basically were like, SEE IT IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. It’s already changed, and it’s changing rapidly and melting. So sad that all these places are forever changed due to disregard for the environment.