Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

An artiste leads a bear as a child sits on it during the first day of a fair organized by GUM departmental store for the upcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations at Moscow's Red Square, November 29, 2014. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Student protestors, including one girl with a camera, struggle with soldiers from the Chinese Army, the PLA. Tiananmen Square, 1989. (Photo by Jeff Widener/Associated Press)

The Komodo National Park is a national park in Indonesia located within the Lesser Sunda Islands in the border region between the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. The park includes the three larger islands Komodo, Padar and Rinca, and 26 smaller ones, with a total area of 1,733 km² (603 km² of it land). The national park was founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard. Later it was dedicated to protecting other species, including marine species. In 1991 the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and later as Man and Biosphere Reserve.

Glacier National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Montana, on the Canada–United States border with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The park encompasses over 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2) and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants and hundreds of species of animals. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem", a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles (41,000 km2).

A participant takes part in the Bristol Park and Slide project, an interactive temporary installation by artist Luke Jerram set up in Park Street in the centre of Bristol, southwest England on May 4, 2014. Over 95,000 people applied for just 360 tickets to slide on inflatable lilos down a lubricated water slide in a town centre street. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)

Jorge, an immigrant from Mexico, exits a subway station dressed as the Sesame Street character Elmo in Times Square, New York July 30, 2014. Elmo and Cookie Monster have long delighted young viewers on TV's “Sesame Street”, but the recent antics of New York street performers dressed as the beloved characters have drawn the ire of city officials and now the show's producers. Sesame Workshop, which owns the rights to Big Bird, Ernie and the assorted puppet monsters on the 45-year-old program, said on July 29, 2014 it was drafting plans to stop performers who dress up as the characters from appearing in Times Square, where they pose for photos with tourists and then demand tips. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A model of a prehistoric icthyosaurus is dragged from its pond in the grounds of Crystal Palace, London, for its annual clean. The 'keeper' is being helped by some of the local police force. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). February 1927