Time Travel?

Great topic! I would like to travel to Florence in 1436, to witness the consecration of the Duomo. Why? Because an early music group of which I was a member sang ‘Nuper rosarum flores’ by Dufay, which was composed for the consecration. I sang this very softly to myself while touring the Duomo in 2014.

And… this is what it sounds like: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EOWHvIZzXPI&pp=ygUUbnVwZXIgcm9zYXJ1bSBmbG9yZXM%3D

Inbsig,

That's lovely!

Europe just before the outbreak of WW1 seems interesting.

For so many demographics going back in time would be dangerous or deadly. As awful as the world feels right now, I'll stay right here.

I have always wanted to go back in time to the pre-Anglo arrival Pacific Northwest to see what the Washington and Oregon wilderness was like before settlers/railroads/extractive industry came here. So late 1700s-1800? Pre-Lewis and Clark?

I'd like to go back to the early 2000s, right before I sold my Amazon stock.

And before anyone says my answer doesn't really fit the spirit of the question, this would allow me to do a lot more traveling now.

Well, I've already done Moomin's time travel, having lived for a while in London in the 1960s. Time traveler's report, it wasn't all that exciting, although in fairness, I was only six years old and not very aware of what the Beatles were up to. Agree with another poster that pre-WW I Europe would be very interesting; a nice tour of London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin and St. Petersburg, especially. Also ancient Rome at its height. But I think my top pick would be to go back about a month, equipped with the winning number of a lucrative lottery drawing about three weeks ago (if I could bring my ticket purchased on my time trip back to the present -- that would probably violate one of the unwritten laws of time travel, though).

I'd just like to go back to Europe in the 90's, the way it was when I started traveling there. Back before the hordes of tourists (don't get me wrong I know I'm part of that horde now), when you didn't have to schedule a time at a museum and when waiting lines were managable. Back when terrorism was a fairly rare and uncommon event and there was so much less fear. That would be enough for me.

Being such a sports fan my initial thought is to start in the late 1800's and slowly hop every few years to watch the growth of hockey and baseball. In Europe I'm going back 20,000 years to France and watch some of those caves in the Dordogne region being painted, then to Rome for a quick peak at what it looked like 2000 years ago, maybe a jaunt down to Pompeii a couple of months before the explosion ( can I take the Circumvesuviana Train from Naples? It looks and runs like it's 2000 years old). From Rome I'm going to England on the Day of Elizabeth 1's coronation.

I'd pick the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. I'd just be sure not to stay at the World's Fair Hotel a.k.a. H.H. Holmes' Murder Castle!

But your question sparks something I've thought about occasionally. Have you ever read Jack Finney's 1970 book Time and Again? Slight spoiler alert, but the premise of time travel in the book is that if you can immerse yourself in a setting so evocative, so convincing (plus a little self-hypnosis), you can actually travel back in time. I've often thought about Finney's book when in a completely immersive setting such as Mont St. Michel in the middle of the night or sitting in quiet solitude at Piona Abbey overlooking a still-wild bit of Lake Como. Without hijacking your question, I'm curious if anyone else has had a travel experience so complete and immersive it felt like a bit of time travel, at least for a moment?

I just returned from yesterday. It was great!

I think that anyone travelling to the past will be disappointed. The past is good only because our memory of it is bad. We tend to look at the past through rosy glasses.

If I had a time machine I'd head for the future...

Really interesting and thoughtful posts... I never thought about the lottery... hehe ;)

History Traveler,

I'm aware of Finney's book but haven't read it but now it's on my list.

I haven't had a travel experience so immersive that it felt like time travel but I have felt deja vu at certain times on my travels. Also a sense of well-being and feeling really comfortable in a place I've never been before. What 's that all about?

Moomin,
You might be interested in this article, if you haven't seen it already.. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231110-doctor-who-is-time-travel-really-possible-heres-what-physics-says

As for me, I'd go way, way back to Ancient Rome at its peak. I'd just love to see what it actually looked like, having seen the ruins. Fascinating.

On Easter Island watching for the first Moai statue being put into place or in Times Square at the end of WW2 or watching Rembrandt paint the NightWatch.

If it were possible, I'd like to go back to Europe in the mid 1960s -- but with knowledge and wisedom (?) I have today. Several years ago I did return to several places I lived and worked in Europe back then, but it was just not the same -- but then what is.

Strong affirmation for finneys book and of course the classic movie "somewhere in time " with c reeves and j Seymour
Finney wrote a second book as a sequel "time after time"

I hate time travel shows; I can't get my mind around it. That said, I'd love to see London before the Great Fire, and again before WWII.

I love the idea of time travel. I’d go back to 1516 when Leonardo da Vinci relocated to Amboise, France. On my second trip, I’d pop in to 1900 to see Giverny when Claude Monet lived and worked there.

Also a sense of well-being and feeling really comfortable in a place I've never been before. What 's that all about?

Some would say it's remembrance of a past life.😉

I will offer Connie Willis’s time travel books The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and the double volume Blackout/All Clear. While you have to get past the concept of time-traveling historians from 2050-ish Oxford running around in the past doing research, clunky, but her research and detail is unbelievable, especially the two parter set during the Blitz.

As an aside, do you think A Christmas Carol was a time travel book? It is my third favourite novel (and the various adaptions have often been great, especially the ones with Alastair Sim or the Muppets), and whilst mainly seen as a Christmas/ghost story, there is time travel at its core.

@Nick YES! Whenever I teach A Christmas Carol I always point out what a sophisticated time travel conceit it has. In fact, between the ghosts, the time travel, the characters' invisibility, the mythological forms of the three spirits, etc. it is as much a piece of fantasy/science fiction as it is a holiday story (in my opinion!)

My first choice would be to go back to the holy land during the time of Jesus. After that, there are many historical events I would love to witness, for example, the surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox. I would also love to see a play in Ancient Greece. The list is endless.

Nice posts everyone!

Sempre Italia, I had to read the BBC article twice, and slowly. Thanks for sharing the link!

Claudia/Donna, watching artists at work is amazing. A bit like watching a magician at work.

Nancy, the past life thing -- maybe it is a form of time travel too. If we really want to go out on a limb, could our dreams while sleeping also be a kind of time travel? ;)

Larry, thanks for the heads up on author Connie Willis. On my list!

Nick/History Traveler, I'll be reading A Christmas Carol this year with a new perspective.

Mr. E, thanks for the laff!

Nick, btw, what are your 2 first favorite novels? Always looking for a good read :)

And nick, thank you for recognizing the Muppets Christmas Carol as the high art form that it is

So, we just re-watched the San Junipero episode of Black Mirror, often considered one of the best all-time episodes of television. I mention it here because 1) it has a time travel-esque theme to it and 2) for the first time, I noticed that the characters referred to many of the visitors to San Junipero (including themselves) as "tourists." In fact, much of the dialog and plot reminded me of discussions here at the Forum about the overuse of the concept of "living like a local," and how much one can belong to a destination without 100% committing to it. Given the recency of this thread when we re-watched it, I thought I'd throw it out as another take on the whole time travel as travel idea....

You couldn’t time travel the technology would be restricted it would be like cern or the automic bomb the government wouldn’t allow it.

I would want to use time travel for immigration purposes perhaps go back to the 70s or 80s and live but it will never be allowed to happen.

May be all well and good to go time traveling. Everyone always expects their time travel to be such that you end up in Egypt and are a Pharoah. But maybe you end up in that time and are a slave. Then what? Perhaps you don't end up as a rich Doge in Venice, but a pauper.
It is like the reincarnated. They always have special positions that they "were" or are expecting to be. None of them are less than the upper tier from those periods. Are there no reincarnations of slaves, or oppressed people with sad lives.
Time travel is ideal if you can get the position.

Time travel. What about the return ticket? Is there always one?

You might enjoy a series by Jody Taylor , The chronicles of St. Mary, that is about a group of historians that go back to investigate historical events. It is a mostly light-hearted look, a fun read. But they also talk about the difficulties of living in those times, and yes, sometimes there are troubles getting back!