[EDIT: Whoops! Sorry, I didn't realise you had set a limit of only five. as you can see, I got a little carried away. Oh well, just consider me a
time travellor with a split personality disorder, so I have given the wishes of both personalities here.]
Though I'm thirty years old now and by any definition "an adult", this is still something that I find myself daydreaming about, often. Before I go
to sleep, I'll get in bed, lie back and start my little time travelling fantasies.
I am so well practiced in it now, I have created my own rules and laws, my favourite times and places and even some re-occuring characters! Pretty
sad, eh?
Firstly, I wouldn't travel into the future, though I desperately want to know what waits for us, the idea kind of scares me. If I did go forward, it
would definitely have to be to a time where I and my future kids have passed on. The idea of seeing my future really does terrify me! What if it's
really bad? OK, you could tell me that I would then know and be able to do something about it but no, I kind of believe in fate and destiny.
I would not travel back and see my family neither, someone above said they would go and see when their parents met but I couldn't do that, I don't
want to see how they used to be, I have a perfectly fine opinion of them now.
I doubt very much I would visit myself at a younger age, at a push I suppose I could go back and tell myself "you know how you believe you can just
have heroin a couple of times a week, that you won't let yourself get addicted and you will be fine?... Nah, doesn't work, mate!" and I may then
take my younger self ten years forward in time and show the mess my life became.
Places and times I would definitely visit though...
1. Whitechapel, East London, last Autumn to Winter 1888. I wouldn't just turn up at the murder scenes to see who is there, I would see if I could do
a better job of finding the culprit with the clues he left and the benefit of my knowledge of the murders. I might get in touch with Inspector
Abberline and see if we could help each other.
My time would not be completely take up with solving the murders though. I am absolutely fascinated in Victorian Britain and the Victorian period in
general, so I would love to spend some time there, getting to know the culture.
2. I would go back circa 7mil years ago and see our great ancestors come out of the trees and take their first bipedal steps. Jump forward to see
Cro-Magnon man and Neanderthal in Europe, possibly try and make contact but if not, study from a distance (I should say here, my rules in my fantasy
are stacked heavily in my favour, not only can I turn invisibility on and off at will but I also have an invisible shield which clings to me. It
doesn't affect my sense of touch, nor would it be noticed by anyone touching me as it is impossibly thin but it means that if some cocky caveman got
it into his head to attack me, he would only succeed in breaking his stick, or if Henry the 8th decides it should be "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!" for me,
the axe would simply bounce off my neck. On top of all that, I also have the ability to speak and understand the local language if I so desire. If I
want to see the past "au naturel", I can disengage my babelfish). I would then spend time jumping forward in time, through Neolythic, stone age,
bronze age, iron age etc etc, studying the culture and hopefully living with some nice families.
3. Any of the English civil wars.
4. though I'm atheist, Christianity is still a huge part of Western culture, so what kind of time traveller would I be if I didn't witness the
crucifiction? I'd also learn some magic before I left, so when Jesus pulls his party tricks (water into wine and all that), I can best him by pulling
a rabbit out of my hat. I just hope that after that, I can still convince them that I'm not the Messiah, I'm a very naughty boy.
5. I'm also fascinated in the Great War and I would like to walk the trenches, or follow the British soldiers as they cross no man's land, towards
the German lines but though I may be physically indestructable, I doubt very much I could mentally cope with seeing thousands upon thousands of young
men and boys cut down by machine gun fire or ripped apart by shrapnel.
6. I would sit and savour each syllable said by our greatest thkinkers and orators, such as Socrates, Plato, Martin L King, Gandhi, Nietzche,
Churchill, Hitler (no, I by no means consider him one of our greatest minds but, as diabolical and abhorrent as his speaches were, he really was one
of the most powerful public speakers, Oscar Wilde, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, tony Danza, etc etc
7. Events in popular culture!! To see one of Shakespears plays at the Roundhouse, a small invite only affair with Beethoven in a small room playing to
a small group of us, Bach playing to a congregation in a church, Nero on stage, Hendrix at Monteray, Beefheart with his real Magic Band, The Beatles
at The Cavern, the Rat Keller, Shea, and on the roof at Abbey Road, Sex Pistols at the 101 club, Ramones at CBGB's, Floyd (with Syd) at UFO, watch
Manchester United's pre-aircrash Busby Babes play, Ali V Forman, some of the greatest comediens of all time, Peter Cook, Ric Pryor et el... I really
could spend my whole life floating around watching these genius' at the top of their game,
7. Spend time getting friendly with Leanardo Da Vinci, eventually become good friends with him and get invited to the studio of the Worlds biggest
genius! Descover that Mona Lisa has that soppy smirk due to Leonardo getting frustrated at my inane questions.
8. How many mysteries could I solve?? But what if it only made life more boring? I'd stand behind LH Oswald at the book depositary. If that offered
no firm answers, I could spend time in other specific places. Hang around Roswell. Find out the function of Stonehenge. Over watch the building of the
pyramids (so I could come back here and make a post "See!! I told you it wasn't aliens!!"). Prove Courtney killed Kurt. Bluff Creek with Patterson.
Mary Celeste. Chase Vault. Kasper Hauser etc etc etc. The majority of these threads we read on here! Any of them that are interesting I'd be able to
know the truth.
9. "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred... and one"
10. Get Tutankhamon to have something really freaky in his sarcophagas, "Canarfon, you have brought tragedy and horror to the people of your isle"
or something much better. Maybe even just the Dead Paqrrot Sketch, written in Hyroglyphs.
So much time, so little.. erm.. time!
Just to be able to see GJ Ceasar's Rome or spend time with Nero. See the Vikings invasion of Britain. spend time with a tony community in
stone/bronze age Britain. Stand next to Wellington and Waterloo and Nelson and Trafalger. Take away the possibility for the people of the future to
give Queen Liz the first one of her nicknames.
I wouldn't kill anybody though. Not even Hitler. As I've already said, I believe in destiny and fate. Hitler, unfortunately was part of this World
and that cannot, or should not be changed. You never know anyway, could someone equelly or even more evil have sprung up in his stead? All those
millions who died, what if one of them had a grandson who got a bit trigger happy with "the button", destroying the planet?
Anyway, time for me to go to sleep, per chance to dream (of time travelling in my Scooby Doo van, solving histories greatest crimes and mysteries)
EDIT: Finally, like an earlier poster, I would be very happy to eventually retire from my time travelling ways in swinging London. By the time 1969
came round, I'd be on the Hippy Trail to India and around the World with nothing but my acoustic guitar on my back. Having people think I'm an
eccentric genius by playing the songs of the future but turning down any suggestion of touring with some mystical, hippy faux-wisdom.
[edit on 28-12-2008 by triplesod]