But you don’t go to a tragedy for closure. There comes another episode, and another, and another, more than anyone can bear. A few months after my journey, enormous swaths of the Evros region were consumed by wildfires, the largest such outbreak in recent European history. In August, 18 people, adults as well as children, were found burned to death in a forest near the village of Avantas, just a few miles north of Alexandroupolis. Blackened beyond recognition, some of them were discovered hugging each other. They were presumed to have recently crossed the border and to have sought protection under the trees.

That aged well… The same week a big part of the country (Thessaly) was flooded with many more dead and thousands losing their homes and source of income (agriculture).

Climate change is real and as long as governments choose to ignore it, increasingly more people are going to die.

A person born in a country that spends anti-flood funds for road repairs. A person born in a country that defunds the forestry service in order to buy military equipment. A person born in a country where you may lose your life over a boat fare.