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Dystopia tourism is, I believe, a neglected branch of the travel industry. To find its leading manifestation, drive 13 hours west from Sydney – deep into the Australian outback. The nightmares of your future dreams reside in a ghost town, Silverton, 15 miles north-west of the mining heartland of Broken Hill.

I was there yesterday and enjoyed a thrilling day that emphasised the joy of discovery that travel bestows. The scorched landscape constitutes a reasonable definition of the term “desolation”: the world looks as though it is rusting away. This was the raw and dangerous territory where Mad Max 2 was filmed. As Silverton’s entertaining Mad Max 2 Museum explains, the cult 1981 movie depicts a post-apocalyptic world that has emerged from a global conflagration involving Iran, in which oil looms large. Absurdly far-fetched, right?

In the hope that the geopolitical upheavals of the past six days have not deterred you from exploring the planet, I commend a trip to the far west of New South Wales. This is Australia’s dusty version of Hollywood. In Broken Hill itself, I stayed in the Palace Hotel. It was the central set for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The elaborate murals created by a local Indigenous artist make you feel you are in an unfolding drama: City Break in Broken Hill.

As the hotel owner, Esther La Rovere, tells me on today’s travel podcast: “The amazing colour we get with the light, and the clear skies out here, have attracted photographers and filmmakers from all around the globe. There's nothing better than really being somewhere truly remote, just to stand in that landscape and feel the ground buzz.” Pick up those good vibrations soon.

China has now opened up to British passport holders, so on the way out to Australia I made a point of checking just how much red tape remains in the People’s Republic. My itinerary via Turkey allowed me to compare and contrast the bureaucracy of borders.

First stop: departure from London Stansted. This is the easiest frontier of all, because there is no outbound border check. Given the current focus on knowing who is coming to and going from the UK, I can see that policy changing soon.

Next stop: Istanbul’s second airport, Sabiha Gökçen – where I lined up after an overnight flight for around half an hour to be processed. My itinerary allowed me a morning to wander through the glories of Turkey’s largest city, and every minute lost was regrettable. Checking out was fast at Istanbul’s main airport. Oddly, travellers aged 65+ are allowed to use the diplomatic channel. I appreciate that this is a highly niche benefit.

My plane from Istanbul arrived in Chengdu in China just after a huge holiday flight from Bangkok had touched down, so I spent another half hour waiting in line. But that allowed plenty of time to complete the online registration. You could opt to fill in a paper form, but the digital version enables you to take a snap of your passport’s personal data page; who could possibly have qualms about sharing such information with Chinese officialdom? The form populates before your very eyes. You also swerve an unusual question asked on the paper form: “List the regions and nations you have visited in the past two years.” All 10 fingerprints are required, as well as a facial biometric. On the way out, only the face is scanned.

The final frontier was Sydney. Most visitors will have spent the necessary three minutes in advance applying for a free eVisitor permit. The immigration kiosk says, approximately: “We’ve been expecting you.” With a single facial biometric, you are free. Thanks to the super-easy train link (just use your contactless bank card – journey time 12 minutes), within half an hour I was sipping a beer at the Old Clare Hotel. Now that’s what I call frictionless.

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