Brexit confirmed, a possible war on Iran and devastating fires in Australia. 2020 has sure started off with a bang.

What New Years’ revellers touted would be the “roaring twenties” (again) seems to be turning into the 21st century version of the roaring twenties but version -2.0. With recent events it seems ever more challenging for those on a budget who love to travel to visit the places on their long list of destinations yet to explore. Political instability and climate change (yes it’s real people) cause unpredictable yet expected events but there are other reasons why the sites of the world may become as endangered as my beloved Borneo orang-utans.

• Outdoor heritage sites damaged by pollution.
  When in India I struggled to breathe and get a clear view of the the Taj Mahal.
• Naughty tourists who touch, breath and take flash photography of certain sites.
  When in Egypt at Abu Simbel most tourists were told not to touch or take flash photos of the delicate carvings inside. Guess what? They did anyway. Even following these rules is not enough as the collective amount of C0² breathed out can damage fragile structures.
• Natural disasters
  I feel fortunate that I got to visit New Zealand’s marine volcano White Island without incident in 2009. It erupted December 2019 leaving in its wake a number of victims.
• Man made disasters
  Also in December 2019 there was an oil spill off the Galapagos islands threatening the unique ecosystems for which the area is known.

I once read a quote attributed to Buddha that said something along the lines of “nothing endures, everything changes“. This seems to be true in life in general. All the more reason to travel now while you can while there are still things to see.