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Given Time Travel, Where & When Would You Want To Travel?

1066.
Now to really mess with the timeline...as “any fule knows” this battle is probably ( for the implications for Britain and then the Empire and the World a massively important, if not the most important)

Either advise King Harold to burn the Norman fleet while it was holed up, stuck by adverse winds, at Dives/St Valery with fire ships as per Drake ( ok who wouldn’t be known or even probably exist if this worked ;) );

Or Leaving a Saxon fleet at the Isle of Wight, which could then bottle up the Normans at their landing base- or again sending in fire ships and burning it en mass;

Intercept and sink Williams flagship that was separated well ahead of the fleet overnight;

Or persuading Harold to wait at least another week in London, allowing the armies of the Northern Earls to regroup and arrive, so having an overwhelming force- the Normans would by then be getting fairly desperate for supplies especially for the horses so would be extremely vulnerable;

Or up in a tree at Hastings; sniper rifle, William takes his helmet off to stem the growing rout as his left wing collapsed as per the Tapestry and “ pfffttt” there goes William ...

Take your pick folks ...
 
What Tyler said:
1066.
Now to really mess with the timeline...as “any fule knows” this battle is probably ( for the implications for Britain and then the Empire and the World a massively important, if not the most important)

Either advise King Harold to burn the Norman fleet while it was holed up, stuck by adverse winds, at Dives/St Valery with fire ships as per Drake ( ok who wouldn’t be known or even probably exist if this worked ;) );

Or Leaving a Saxon fleet at the Isle of Wight, which could then bottle up the Normans at their landing base- or again sending in fire ships and burning it en mass;

Intercept and sink Williams flagship that was separated well ahead of the fleet overnight;

Or persuading Harold to wait at least another week in London, allowing the armies of the Northern Earls to regroup and arrive, so having an overwhelming force- the Normans would by then be getting fairly desperate for supplies especially for the horses so would be extremely vulnerable;

Or up in a tree at Hastings; sniper rifle, William takes his helmet off to stem the growing rout as his left wing collapsed as per the Tapestry and “ pfffttt” there goes William ...

Take your pick folks ...
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Or:
To order the whole army to charge when William's left wing was in trouble.

Offer bribes to some of the Bretons to desert William - there were probably a few estates going spare in Britain after Stamford Bridge and Gate Fulford.

I would like some insight into the character of Hannibal. Apart from a few scraps all the information we have on him was written by his enemies. Getting hold of Sosylos' account of his time in Italy would be interesting.

Fascinating to speculate on what the world would have been like if Harold had won and what it would have been like had Hannibal had achieved his goal (Rome's surrender rather than its destruction)

Maybe history would have "bounced back" Harold and his descendants claiming William's lands in France leading to the ongoing difficulties with the French Kings. A subjugated Rome rebelling and taking over and expanding Carthage's growing empire?
 
For me, I'd go back to the early 80s and give my younger self LOTS of advice.
Mythopoeika said:
I'd become very successful, known as the inventor of all kinds of things and be the wealthiest person on the planet.
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Me too, and also to experience some of the great 80s moments, like watching video shows to see Hungry Like The Wolf or going to see Wargames or spending the day at the video arcade with an endless supply of coins...*sigh*

Then I'd get a job, sock away a few bits and then invest heavily in 90s dot coms.
 
Oooo this is a topic that's always fascinated me...I'd love to traipse along through town experiencing things how they were, like mesolithic or neolithic societies, see how they lived and how they built things like Skara Brae and Stonehenge. But mostly I'd love to go spend some time in the late 70s/early 80s when everything was just like totally awesome. And I'd hit up moments in time and snap up any nostalgic foods or such that you can't get any more.

I have a fantasy where I have a few thousand dollars and I go back and buy iconic cars when they were new and bring them back to the present times.....ooooh...hello 1967 Ford Mustang....nice to see you Land Rover Mark I....hmmm....so many cars....
 
Sorry to throw a paradoxical spanner into this thread, but here goes

I presume the ability to go bac in time is not limited to single person and everyone with the right equipment can have a go ?

There would be more than one person rushing back to get all the great inventions, lottery numbers. sport results elections, it would be utter chaos with each person trying to land in that spot in time just before the other in fact it makes your head spin but if you are the only one who is allowed go and fill your boots
 
As observer only*, I'd love to watch The Year of The Three Emperors, after the fall of Nero.
So much is said about the motives and actions of Vitellus, Galba and Otho - but because the existing accounts are biased and long after the events, I'd like to see the public attitudes between each of them and the shenanigans.

* I'm aware of my privilege in the modern world and wouldn't expect my Ancient Roman class to protect me :).
 
The 1980s, and buy all the Transformers toys I didn't get as a kid. Also all the Target Doctor Who books. And the missing Doctor Who tapes, thus completing all those missing stories....
 
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Robbrent said:
Sorry to throw a paradoxical spanner into this thread, but here goes
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Yep having read through a good few of these posts that's just what I was thinking ... sigh.
Going back for personal gain in the here and now would have to be banned!
 
I would travel about 5000 years into the future.

If humanity has attained a Star Trek future, then that would be a great civilization in which to live.

If godlike AIs rule, then it would be fascinating to sit and learn at the feet of the Archailects.

If all I find is a ruined wasteland, then I would at least know that there's no harm in squandering my resources.
 
There'd have to be a momentous incident to bring all the world governments into unity.
The UN was a nice attempt but was idealistic in the face of the fact that the nature of national leaders is they have the interests of themselves/their nation at heart rather than global unity.
 
Stormkhan said:
There'd have to be a momentous incident to bring all the world governments into unity.
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At one time, I thought it'd have to be a threat from outside - an asteroid heading this way or hostile aliens - that might do that.
 
WW1 inspired the League of Nations (IIRC) and WW2 inspired the UN.
 
It finally struck me that whether I wanted to go back in time to prevent JFK being assassinated or to find a way to make the Dreamcast a big success...what would I actually be able do* about such things?


*SPOILER: Bugger-all.
 
Wombat68 said:
I'd like to go back and meet Byron preferably on the night Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein
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(Discrete cough) You've already done that, but did you have to cosplay?

tumblr_n4p19vmnKQ1r1i2svo1_r1_400-2.gif
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
Fitbit or Apple Watch

Time-Traveling Swifty to Woodstock hippies, "You should wear earplugs, my Apple watch is telling me the decibels are too high for health and safety...."
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I stuck my head inside a 20k sub bass speaker at a hardcore rave once. It damaged my hearing for about three years but it was fun at the time.
 
Swifty said:
I stuck my head inside a 20k sub bass speaker at a hardcore rave once. It damaged my hearing for about three years but it was fun at the time.
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Mates of mine saw an idiot do that at a Motorhead concert back in the early 80s.
This crazed individual pulled his head out with bleeding ears and a mad grin on his face.
 
Robbrent said:
Sorry to throw a paradoxical spanner into this thread, but here goes

I presume the ability to go bac in time is not limited to single person and everyone with the right equipment can have a go ?

There would be more than one person rushing back to get all the great inventions, lottery numbers. sport results elections, it would be utter chaos with each person trying to land in that spot in time just before the other in fact it makes your head spin but if you are the only one who is allowed go and fill your boots
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An angle that isn't often considered.

In that case, if I had a time machine, I'd go back to just before the time machine was invented, and stop it being invented, and then I'd... no... wait... er...
 
If time travel became available to the likes of us, I’d go back to see Jesus hanging up there with a crowd of influencers taking selfies in front of him.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Mates of mine saw an idiot do that at a Motorhead concert back in the early 80s.
This crazed individual pulled his head out with bleeding ears and a mad grin on his face.
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Wow! The first time I saw Motorhead, I thought I'd done well to work my way through to the front of the stage. That was bad enough: seriously impaired hearing for about 3 days, which was not good in a job that involved long detailed telephone conversations with angry customers.
 
Mikefule said:
Wow! The first time I saw Motorhead, I thought I'd done well to work my way through to the front of the stage. That was bad enough: seriously impaired hearing for about 3 days, which was not good in a job that involved long detailed telephone conversations with angry customers.
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My friends who went to the Motorhead 'do' showed me the brochure that had been left on every seat. It had pictures of hearing aids on it, presumably to reiterate the message that they would be LOUD. At the time, they made the claim that they were the loudest band in the world.
1704535654423.png
 
Working at an arena which also hosted gigs, we had a hearing test before starting at the job. Then one every six months after, to make sure no excess damage was being done. They always supplied free earplugs.
Even to members of the audience who requested them.
 
I would use the time machine to travel to places in order to see birds or bird quantities that have been lost.

My list includes:-
-US to see the Passenger Pigeon, the Ivory Billed Woodpecker and the Eskimo Curlew.
-The North Atlantic to see the Great Auk.
-Mauritius, Rèunion and Rodriguez to see the various Dodos, Solitaires and many other birds thereof.
-A beach (unfortunately unnamed) on the east coast of Scotland in the 1930s to see a 25 minute flock of Knots described by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald. This was a flock so huge that it took 25 minutes to pass by. We have nothing like that number now.
-New Zealand a few hundred years ago to see Giant and other Moas and Haast's Eagle, the largest raptor that ever lived.

That will do to start with. If I could only pick one I think it would have to be the Passenger Pigeon. Flocks of birds so vast they darkened the sky for days on end. Incredible.
 
Min Bannister said:
I would use the time machine to travel to places in order to see birds or bird quantities that have been lost.

My list includes:-
-US to see the Passenger Pigeon, the Ivory Billed Woodpecker and the Eskimo Curlew.
-The North Atlantic to see the Great Auk.
-Mauritius, Rèunion and Rodriguez to see the various Dodos, Solitaires and many other birds thereof.
-A beach (unfortunately unnamed) on the east coast of Scotland in the 1930s to see a 25 minute flock of Knots described by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald. This was a flock so huge that it took 25 minutes to pass by. We have nothing like that number now.
-New Zealand a few hundred years ago to see Giant and other Moas and Haast's Eagle, the largest raptor that ever lived.

That will do to start with. If I could only pick one I think it would have to be the Passenger Pigeon. Flocks of birds so vast they darkened the sky for days on end. Incredible.
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Two of those have people claiming they are still alive.

The Ivory Billed Wodpecker as you know and some species of Moa.
 
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