The final travel guide published by the Galactic Tourism Federation. The first edition was titled 1,000 Stars to Visit Before They Disappear. When 666 of the stars featured in the guide were removed from navigation charts before publication, the number was deleted from the title. The following is an excerpt from the 814th revised edition.
Why You Should Depart Now
The galaxy is changing. Yesterday's route closes today, and the star you saw through your window as a child may no longer be visible tomorrow. Change is not always a cause for sorrow. For every journey is an encounter with a moment that will never return. Do not hesitate. You may be the last tourist. This statement is not advertising exaggeration.
Recommended Destination 1 — The Ring of Silence
A vast circular wormhole route that once connected thirteen inhabited planets. Only two sections remain operational, and there is no route back to the point of departure.
Tourists must purchase a one-way ticket. The operational status of life-support facilities at the destination may change after departure. The travel agency does not guarantee a return journey, and even if a tourist cannot return, the journey is considered completed.
Recommended activity: Taking a commemorative photograph in front of a closed passage. The words “I came this far” are automatically inserted into the photograph. The original wording, “I will return,” was removed on the recommendation of the Consumer Protection Commission.
Recommended Destination 2 — The Three Bridges
Three bridges built on a planet once inhabited by 104 residents. The river has disappeared and the residents have relocated, but the bridges have been preserved in their original condition.
On the first bridge, visitors can experience the determination to build; on the second, the value of safety; and on the third, the grandeur of maintenance costs.
Nighttime illumination events have been discontinued to conserve energy. The star has been extinguished, so visitors must carry flashlights even during the day. The cost of charging flashlights is not included in the package price.
Recommended Destination 3 — The Last Natural Sun
A natural star that has never undergone artificial ignition or luminosity adjustment. There are no billboards, no light-harvesting rings, and no trademarks on its surface. Visitors can experience an era when stars did nothing but shine.
For safe viewing, the tourist ship remains at a distance of twelve light-minutes from the star. The windows block radiation, and 94 percent of the light visitors actually see has been corrected by the ship's imaging system.
Customers who wish to see the light in its original form may purchase the “Authentic Starlight” option. Any damage to eyesight or genetic alterations are the responsibility of the traveler.
Recommended Destination 4 — Slow-Computing World Observation Room
A facility inhabited by the slowest-thinking citizens in the galaxy. While one day passes there, hundreds of years pass outside. Entry into the facility's internal system is not permitted. By the time a tourist who accessed the internal system returned, the travel agency might no longer exist.
Visitors cannot see the citizens from the observation room. Their next thought has not yet been completed. Instead, a professional guide spends forty minutes explaining why what cannot be seen is important.
Visitor satisfaction is the lowest among all tourist attractions in the galaxy. The rate of repeat visits is the highest. This is because people return when they are uncertain what they saw during their first visit.
Special Extinction Observation Package
A recently popular package is “Civilization's Last Night.” Tourists spend a day in an inhabited region scheduled for closure and participate in the following activities.
• Eat the last regular rationed meal • Lock a door manually • Listen to music from before the power restrictions • Send a rescue signal that does not function • Write the last sentence you will leave behind
If the inhabited region is not closed as scheduled, half the participation fee will be refunded. If it is actually closed, no refund will be issued because there will be no institution from which to claim one.
Guidance for Responsible Travelers
Tourism consumes energy. A single journey across the galaxy requires as much energy as a small city uses in thirty years. The Tourism Federation therefore recommends that all customers reduce the number of journeys they make.
Travel only once. Make that one journey as far as possible. Long-distance travel packages consume 900 times more energy than short-distance packages, but both count equally as one journey in travel frequency statistics.
Tourists may donate to prevent the disappearance of the places they visit. Thirty-eight percent of donations are used to maintain the computational entities that administer the funds. Twenty-two percent is spent on publicizing the effects of the donations, and 17 percent is used to transport tourists who have seen the publicity materials to the destinations. The Tourism Federation discloses these proportions transparently.
Farewell on Closing
Thank you for traveling with the Galactic Tourism Federation for so many years. We believed that travel broadened understanding between civilizations, turned unfamiliar forms of life into neighbors, and preserved the beauty of different worlds. Our belief was not wrong. Our calculations were wrong.
We took people to beautiful places, opened passages so that they could reach them, and used the energy of those beautiful places to maintain the passages. Some places would have lasted longer if they had not been loved.
The final package is a tour of the headquarters observation deck. It can be reached on foot from your present location and does not require a wormhole. From the observation deck, you can see the center of the galaxy. No reservation is required. There are no staff members either. If the door is open, please come in.