I'm pretty sure everyone is at least somewhat fascinated with the idea
of time travel and its potential. While it could be dangerous and also
very difficult to use it as a superhero-type power (assuming you don't
want to accidentally break history), as a personal ability? So cool-
there are so many times and places you could go. And today, I'm talking
about the top seven places I’d travel to if I had time-travel ability. (For the purposes of
this post: there are no limits to said ability, except that I can’t
significantly change history. And, for convenience’s sake, we’ll assume
that the ability to blend in wherever I end up is included in the
time-travel power. ‘Cause, you know, limits make for a good story . . .
but if we’re going for if-onlys, why not pull out all the stops?)
Time Travel Touring
- Ancient Egypt, early 15th century B.C. The
exact year and century doesn't matter so much with this one- any period
of ancient Egypt would be cool to visit. But if I'm going to go, I
might as well do it when I could see some of the events of Exodus . . .
though I might get out of there once the plagues start getting serious.
There's some things I'd rather read about than experience, y'know?
- Oxford, England, sometime in the 1940s (and then again in 1955). I give you all three guesses as to why, and the first two don't count- of course
if I have time travel powers I'm going to go back and actually meet
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and maybe accidentally-on-purpose
eavesdrop on an Inklings meeting or two (or even on some of their
classes at Oxford!). And then I'd hop forward a decade and see if I can
get my hands on first-edition (or early edition, at least) copies of
LOTR and The Chronicles of Narnia- and, while I'm at it, I'd
see if I could get those copies autographed too. Plus, if I felt like
it, I could see if I could track down Diana Wynne Jones while she was
taking classes at Oxford- she wouldn't have started writing yet, but it
would still be cool to meet her.
- Medieval Europe.
As with modern Europe, there's no one specific location (or event) I'd
particularly want to see- I'd rather travel from place to place (and
time to time) and visit whatever catches my interest. I'd visit some
castles and tournaments, for certain, and see if I could sit in on some
significant events (most of which I can't think of off the top of my
head just now) and generally do in-person story research. I would be a
little bit scared to visit this time as well, not out of fear of death
or injury but because I wouldn't want to let go of my fantasies. But I'd
still go in the end.
- New Zealand, early 2000s and 2011-2012. Specifically, onto the set of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit
films, where I'd get a behind-the-scenes, in-person look at the process
and then sneak myself into a costume to play the occasional extra in
whatever scenes I could manage! Admittedly, I'm slightly iffy on whether
or not it would be entirely legal . . . but it would definitely be fun.
- Judea, 1st century A.D. Because what's a time-traveling tour without visiting the time when Jesus walked the earth and taught the people face-to-face? I'm honestly not sure I'd manage to approach Him, even if I visited that time- I wouldn't know what to do or say. But it would be amazing to hear Him speak and see His miracles.
- Jerusalem and Judea, various points in David and Solomon's reigns (between 1010 and 931 B.C.). Actually tied with the time of Jesus for the Biblical era I'd most like to see: Jerusalem at its height, during the reigns of David and Solomon! And while I was there, I'd try to be there for some of the significant events- go back a bit to see David defeat Goliath, watch as the Ark was brought home to the Tabernacle, and sit in on some of the Temple dedication ceremony. Plus, of course, I'd explore the city on a few different ordinary days.
- The American Frontier/Old West, 1800s. Because as someone who grew up on the Little House books and similar stories, and still finds the frontier and old west era fascinating, I couldn't not stop in on that time. As with Medieval Europe, there's no particular place and time within this region and era where I'd particularly want to go; I'd just travel around and see what I could see. (That being said, I'd probably try to meet Laura Ingalls, because why not?)
What about you? Where and when would you go if you had almost-unlimited time travel abilities? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)
