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Imagine if you were told you couldn’t travel to your dream destination.
What would you say?
What if the landmark or wonder you desired to see the most no longer existed?
How would that make you feel?
Stop and listen to the little voice screaming inside your head right now! Go ahead and listen, I’ll wait.
I’ll give you a hint! It sounds something like this, “Go…GO NOW!!!” If you hear something along those lines, let me tell you why you want to pay heed to your own voice.
The landscape of the world is changing, both literally and figuratively. But not only is the world changing, you are too. There is no running away from Mother Nature and Father Time! Here are 4 reasons why there is no better time than the present to stop making excuses and get after that bucket list.
1. Destinations are slowly dying
Many factors, both natural and man-made, are adversely affecting our favorite tourist destinations. Unfortunately, it is not a matter of if, but when these locations will be inaccessible to the public or, worst case, gone entirely. Most recently the world lost a very recognizable natural landmark called the Azure Window in Malta. If you had that on your list of places to see, then you and I both must cross it off of our list of desired destinations. But wait, there’s more! The list of endangered locations is increasing.
Azure window – GONE!
The famous natural structure located on the Island of Gozo in Malta recently collapsed into the sea after it was battered by a night of heavy storms. The limestone arch had become an iconic symbol of Malta. It had been featured in movies such as The Count of Monte Cristo to the ever popular show Game of Thrones. Geologists knew the structure was eventually going to collapse due to erosion, but did not expect it to occur as soon as it did.
“A study in 2013 said that while erosion was inevitable, the structure on the Maltese island of Gozo was not in imminent danger of collapsing. At the time, geologists said the Azure Window was likely to survive for decades, but concerns about its long-term future grew over the past year.” -Nadia Khomami, The Guardian Twitter: @NadiaKhomami
The Maldives are shrinking
The Maldives is arguably the most famous archipelago in the world. This island chain, located in the Indian Ocean, is one of the most sought after travel destinations. The Maldives are most known for the bungalows seemingly hovering over crystal clear blue waters connected by endless boardwalks. These resorts appear to be the exact definition of paradise. Unfortunately, paradise has a projected lifespan of approximately 30 years.
Venice is sinking
Venice is an absolutely breathtaking city. Its iconic waterways sprinkled with gondolas and small pedestrian streets, or calle, lined with local art vendors and quaint shops. Its landmarks, such as, the Doge’s palace, St. Mark’s basilica and Rialto Bridge are easily recognizable. However, all the unique features that this little island holds is at risk due to a combination of rising sea levels and unstable underwater ground compaction. With water levels rising about 2 mm on average per year, at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before the Adriatic Sea consumes the island. There have been some preventive measures put in place to address the rising water levels, but only time will tell if it will be enough.
Taj Mahal may be closing
The Taj Mahal located in Agra is India’s most famous tourist destination. It is difficult to find a person that cannot recognize the mausoleum’s white marble onion dome surrounded by its four tower lighthouses, or minarets. Built as a monument in 1638 to Emperor Shah Jahan’s wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the building is facing rapid deterioration resulting from air pollution and the adverse effects of 4 million visitors a year. If the Taj site continues to degrade at its current rate, the site may no longer allow visitors to enter the structure. This means that you would no longer be able to see the beauty of this building up close. The site is currently undergoing a one-year exterior restoration process from April 2017 to approximately March 2018.
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef, located just off the northeastern coast of Australia, is one of the most bio diverse environments on the planet. The coral reef system is the largest living structure in the world is made up of over 3000 coral reefs spanning across 1600 miles. As impressive as this is, keep this number in mind, about two thirds, or roughly 1000 miles, of the barrier reef has experienced mass bleaching events in 2016 and 2017.
Reef bleaching occurs “When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.” What is coral bleaching?
This does not necessarily mean they’re dead, but with worsening environmental conditions, it makes the probability of the reef surviving very small.
2. Your life circumstances will change
Time waits for no one! If you’re in or about to hit your retirement years, then time availability will soon be on your side. However, the older we get, the harder it can be to travel. Don’t put it off for too long only to have medical issues make your trips less enjoyable, or worse, prevent you from going on them altogether.
The mid-life years introduce a different set of circumstances for you. This is the time when many of us may be starting a family. The majority of your time and financial resources will no longer belong to you. So, until your youngsters become old enough to travel with you, all those travel dreams will have to be put on hold for a while.
Now for the twenty-somethings out there, this is arguably the best time to get a great deal of global exploration out of the way. The biggest issue you most likely face is the lack of disposable financial resources. If you’re in the unfortunate majority leaving school with student loans on your back, then you have some tough choices to make. There are ways to travel long-term without costing a great deal of money, click on the link to read my post on ways to do so.
As you can see, every stage in life will come with its unique set of challenges. In any case, we have one go round on this big rock, so today is a good opportunity for you to travel now.
3. Politics: the ever present danger
If you live on this floating rock called Earth, then the impacts of the New World Order…err…I mean, new global politics will affect you in some way. As extreme as that may sound, there is some probability that it’s true, but we’ll save that for another day. With political leaders, such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, etc., seemingly turning the world into their own personal game of Risk. It seems like the days of open doors to explore the globe are giving way to a less accepting, increasingly defensive world. However, check out my post titled Traveling in the Time of Trump, to learn why we must travel now more than ever.
It seems like every day a new city falls victim to some form of terrorism. Now, the whole premise behind terrorism is to strike fear in the hearts of people through violence to make a statement. With about 555 terrorist attacks worldwide in 2017 as of early June, many people are apprehensive to put themselves in harm’s way any more than necessary. As difficult and illogical as it may seem, we must continue to go out and explore. We must continue to spread love and understanding. We cannot let hate win!
4. Are the best times to travel the best times?
The number of people reaching adult age is steadily increasing. With the travel-aged population increasing, tourist destinations are becoming more and more congested.
“By 2030, there will be an extra billion people in the world, of which it is forecast 20% will be travelling. The United Nations predicts a population of 9.6 billion by 2050.” Scott Alvis, Travel 2030: Marketing to a growing and changing world population
That is an expected increase of approximately 200 million people traveling the world. Now the impact of that will vary depending on how many of us retire the passports and call it a traveling career by then, but if you’re reading this chances are you may not be one of those people. Taking all of these projected numbers into account, today may be the leanest crowd numbers you’ll encounter at the most popular tourist destinations. My advice is if it’s on your bucket list, start working on crossing them off as soon as you can.
Still thinking about it?
You may be one who thinks you have an abundance of time to visit your desired locations, so you put it off to sometime in the future. Unfortunately, your favorite destination may not be around by the time you get to it. Generally speaking, we have a tendency to take things for granted. Then when those things vanish, we hide behind a wall of excuses! Don’t live with regrets. Regrets of never going somewhere you wanted to see. This holds true in any facet of your life, but since this is about travel, I’ll stay in that arena.
If you want to see the world, but something keeps “coming up,” fate may not be the problem. Let’s not continue to procrastinate any more than we already have. There will never be a “perfect time” to do so. However, I guarantee there will be a lot of good ones to take advantage of, so take them!
If you’re gifted a free trip to any destination, where is the ticket to and why?
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