About Our Disappearing World

Trace in Shanghai

Over a half decade ago, I began a quest, a series of travels, to experience what I referred to as "Our Disappearing World". Those travels, and more to come, are the inspiration and subject matter of the stories, images and videos on this website.

Before proceeding further perhaps I should first explain what I mean by "Our Disappearing World". Most fundamentally, it is those aspects of our world today that will likely be lost forever within a generation or two. The world is changing at a rate faster today, in almost every aspect, that would have been inconceivable even a century ago.

These profound changes contain both positive and negative implications. Every year economic development pulls millions of people out of poverty, but progress often comes at the cost of severe environmental degradation. And the implied Westernization of cultures that accompanies economic modernization is leading to the loss of traditional civilizations with centuries of history behind them.

With Our Disappearing World as backdrop, the stories on this website will take you to a wide range of exotic locales and introduce you to a fascinating cast of characters, from the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, where the Huli Wigman clans retain a Neolithic Stone Age culture with the exception of newly introduced cellphones, to the depths of the Amazon Jungle where the River People pursue a subsistence lifestyle while passionately following their local teams playing football in inter-village competition. You will read about the Eastern Highlands of Madagascar where the Malagasy people exhume deceased ancestors and then hold a major feast with the corpse as guest of honor and Georgia's remote Pankisi Valley, where the Kist people still practice a vibrant and unique form of Muslim Sufiism.

Along with these fascinating people, colorful cultures and spectacular wildernesses that I have been fortunate enough to experience in my quest, I also share with you the many unpleasant aspects of such an endeavor. This includes fending off vicious pickpocket attempts, being physically attacked in the streets, a standoff with armed police in a dark Caracas barrio, ubiquitous encounters with crooked police and government officials and being ripped off more times than I care to admit or probably even knew about.

As our world continues to undergo wrenching socio-economic change, our disappearing world is vanishing at an even faster rate. And much of what has made the world such an interesting, colorful and adventurous place to explore is being lost forever in the process.

It was a personal sense of urgency to experience, first-hand, the remaining vestiges of Our Disappearing World, and the adventure that goes with this, that drove me to embark on my long journey.

Come share this journey with me

Sincerely,
Trace Sanders