If you could go back in time....

[captcalhoun]

1940, the Battle of Britain, fly a Spitfire and kick some Nazi ass.

1944, Normandy, June. kick some Nazi ass.

2002, my home. tell myself not to date my ex. it wasn't worth it.

 

[QCzar]

Doing any of this without a TARDIS just seems...wrong somehow.

Anyway, add me to the list of people wanting to visit ancient Rome. Particularly during its Augustan era prime. It would be interesting to regard their technology, which for the time placed Rome about where we are now in comparison to everyone else. What invention or gadget could they not live without? What conveniences (other than the obvious) did they take for granted?

Also China during the time of Zheng He's fleet, for the same reasons as the above (and also because China wasn't influenced as much by western culture at this time).

And how could I not go back to Ancient Egypt. The grandiosity of it all. The sense of self-importance. The aroma filled markets (some of those aromas were kinda foul, but whatever) and goods from all over the known world. The sheer linen laced women, with their bald heads but absolutely fabulous wigs. Oh and the man-makeup. And barge trips down the Nile. And the aforementioned scantly clad women. And, and...

Definitely Egypt!

The big problem I have with going too far back is the reality of war, famine, pestilence and diseases that we no longer have that were pretty deadly at various points in history.

Seems like it would be too hazardous...1950's are as far back as I would be willing to go..

QuasarVM, it's not like a lot of that stuff isn't still around. There are wars all over the place (Central Africa, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka to name but a few). There's a Cholera (a disease very familiar to ancients) epidemic in Zimbabwe and salmonella poisoning sweeping through the United States. There are still reports of famine in western Sudan. And last, but definitely not least, AIDS is claiming millions of lives throughout the world. Does that about round out your Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse list?

None of those things should be reason for not going if one could, unless one lacked the means to return (lost the keys to the TARDIS).

 

[Mr. B]

There's so much to be seen...

See some dinosaurs, check up on some biblical stuff to see how/if it happened... great flood, parting of the red sea, follow Jesus around for a while.

Construction of the pyramids at Giza, Assembly of Stonehenge, see ancient Athens, battle of thermopylae, see ancient rome, see the lighthouse at Alexandria, see Columbus land in 'San Salvador,' watch the American colonials and the founding fathers debate declaring independence, the siege of Yorktown, see antebellum era New Orleans and New York City, the battle of Gettysburg, the D-Day invasion of Normandy,
battle of the bulge, see Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington perform live in New York City, see King's "I have a Dream" speech, the Apollo 11 launch, attend a taping of the Johnny Carson show, see Star Trek: The Motion Picture on opening night in Los Angeles.

 

[Candlelight]

If I were a silent obsevrer I would love to travel back to 1914 and see first hand how Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew survived two years in the frozen wastelands of the Antarctic oceans and the incredible journey of the James Caird.

I would also visit England in the 1950s and 60s and watch how televison was first produced over there... not to mention being able to watch the last four episodes of The Quatermass Experiment and any other missing BBC episodes.

There are too many other key moments in history to mention, like the Titanic, Apollo 11, Kitty Hawk, etc.

It would be cool to circumvent my family tree by going back in time and getting a rich noble woman pregnant, thus creating a new line of descendents...

 

[Finn]

I'd like to go back to the 70s (1972-1973) and see what my parents were like the seven years they were together before I showed up, especially when they were living not far from where I am, in Silver Spring where they got married. It would be neat to see a pre-metro DC with Nixon in the White House, and when my college wasn't an university and when the surroudning neighborhood was actually much worse than it was by the time I first went to college. It would be neat to see my parents when they were young, my half brother when he was small, and see my relatives. It would be strange to see two of my aunts who were younger or the same age as their kids are today.

By the same token, I sometimes wonder what my future kids (if I will get to have some) would think if they went backwards in time a couple of decades to this very date and observed me walking around doing my daily routine.

 

[Red Ranger]

Of course, I'd want to have a working TARDIS with all the accoutrements so that when I travel to the end of the last Ice Age -- or any other place -- I don't have to create a latrine and have a full time-appropriate wardrobe! -- RR

 

[Mistral]

I think I'd like to spend time in 1965-1972. I caught fragments of the end of that era as a child and its always fascinated me.

Then I'd go live in 1890 Illinois. Just a year or two for a vacation. Bucolic and fairly peaceful.

Then on to 1930 Hollywood. See the last decade of the "studio" system. Have drinks with Bogie and Earl Flynn. Then on to New York in 77 to hang at Studio 54 for a while.

 

[Skywalker]

A coworker just told me he'd like to visit the time of Christ and witness the last days of his life and crucifixion (Christ's, not my coworker's).

Unless, of course, your coworker goes back to those days and begins preaching about the word of God and gets crucified by the Romans.

...Are his initials JC?

 

[RandyS]

If I could go back in time, I'd make myself rich.

What?? Somebody had to say it.

 

[GMac]

Probably go back and relive the moon landings, just so I could properly understand what was going on (I was only 2 when Apollo 11 landed). Also I'd go back to December 1979 and stop myself from stepping out in front of the car that knocked me down - I suspect my life might have been a bit different had that particular event not happened......

GM

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wouldn't mind doing a Sam Tyler-like trip to 1970's New York.

It would be cool if I could see Reggie Jackson play live at Yankee Stadium (although that comes a few years after LoM), and see Chris Chambliss hit the home run in Game 5 of the '76 ALCS. Although in the latter case I would definitely not be out on the field with those jackass fans who swarmed the field.

 

[Nardpuncher]

The big problem I have with going too far back is the reality of war, famine, pestilence and diseases that we no longer have that were pretty deadly at various points in history.

Seems like it would be too hazardous...1950's are as far back as I would be willing to go...

Don't forget the other problem...you'd travel in time, but you'd still be in the physical space you are right now!
So now I'm in Asia...so if I go back to see Ancient Rome...I'd have along walk ahead of me!

 

[Gertch]

I'd go back and tell Eve not to.

Other than that I'd like to sample a few of the dinosaur eras, course building the pyramids (maybe take a ride in the alien spaceships), and watch the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

A coworker just told me he'd like to visit the time of Christ and witness the last days of his life and crucifixion (Christ's, not my coworker's).

This would be my choice.

 

[trekkerguy]

I'd go back and tell Eve not to.

Hmm... I've always imagined she would be really hawt... mmm

I'd love to go back to the 30's-40's-50's. That era has always intrigued me.
Plus I'd love to meet Barbara Stanwyck... mmmm...

Yep.

Barbara Stanwyck.

She was THE woman.

 

[Amaris]

I was born in 1959 and have lived to bridge two centuries. I've long been interested in history in general. I also enjoy films and TV that are period pieces (when well done) partly because it's somewhat like science fiction but in reverse, in that you're looking into a world that to some extent is rather alien and distinctly different from the familiar now and can never visit. Or revisit for that matter because I suspect that even if you could revisit the world of your youth as an adult it might well seem strange to you because you'd have an entirely different perspective from when you were young.

Most history interests me, but particularly the last 200 years because in many ways those people struggled with many of the things we must deal with today yet in a different context.

I'd be curious to visit the 19th century or more so the 1920s and 1950s which parallel much of current world yet in other ways would be so different from how we live today.

And so if you could go back to any time (without consequence) where would you go and why? This could be for personal reasons as well.

Wow, so many events I would like to witness, but if I had the choice (with no consequences), I'd choose to go see a carpenter from Nazareth some 2,000 years ago and see how he interacts with the locals.

J.

 

[Gepard]

Dinosaurs. Don't know the details, but definitely dinosaurs.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Am I limited to just one trip? Because if I had this power, I'd want to see everything-- all of Human history and beyond. I'd want to see not only the dinosaurs, but all the extinct animals that came after them and all the strange creatures that came before; especially Trilobites.

Top on my list would be the American Revolution. I'd also like to experience the Roaring 20s. And Ancient Crete. I'd also like to re-experience the wonderful 60s of my youth. I could go on and on. Just-- everything.

 

[Skywalker]

Am I limited to just one trip? Because if I had this power, I'd want to see everything-- all of Human history and beyond. I'd want to see not only the dinosaurs, but all the extinct animals that came after them and all the strange creatures that came before; especially Trilobites.

Top on my list would be the American Revolution. I'd also like to experience the Roaring 20s. And Ancient Crete. I'd also like to re-experience the wonderful 60s of my youth. I could go on and on. Just-- everything.

The 60s were your youth? Wow, you must age really slowly.

 

[Australis]

Am I limited to just one trip? Because if I had this power, I'd want to see everything-- all of Human history and beyond. I'd want to see not only the dinosaurs, but all the extinct animals that came after them and all the strange creatures that came before; especially Trilobites.

Absolutely the same. No question, with a couple of extras.

If it was done 'Odyssey 5' style, I'd go back to 1970 and completely rewrite my life. Just would, okay? Aside from a whole bunch of personal/family stuff, I'd study really hard and get into uni, but I'd also get into a good band - find one starting out and audition for it. Sweeeet.

If it had to be done time machine style, aside from wanting to visit all the big moments and more, I'd like to go to South West Scotland in late 1959, and look in at the little shop my parents built and ran there. Wouldn't tell them who I was, just call in, buy something, see them young, in love, and with their son, me. That would be the coolest thing.

Of course if you have a time machine, there are also all those future moments too...