If You Could Time Travel, Who Would You Visit?

by Lori

Post image for If You Could Time Travel, Who Would You Visit?

“Yes, and imagine a world
in which there were no hypothetical situations”
Jasper Fforde

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to time travel? Imagine if you could go anywhere and see anyone – from any time in history! What three people would you visit? Where would you go?

I’d go back in time to see my parents on the day I was born.  I’d witness my first day here on earth. I’d see my parents’ faces for real, not just in photographs. Then I’d walk around the town where I was born, visiting my relatives who were living then, seeing them as they looked so many years ago. I’d visit my paternal grandmother who died when I was just a baby. I’d sit and have a cup of tea with her.

The second place I’d go is to Michigan City to visit my maternal grandfather who died when I was twelve. I’d sit on that screened in porch with him on that porch swing I remember so well. I’d thank him for those endless hours he played with me and my siblings, as if he had all the time in the world for us. What a precious gift he gave us.  I’d tell him all about his great grandchildren.

Then I’d visit Anthony de Mello, my favorite spiritual mentor and writer. I’d sit with him and talk with him about life, psychology, and spirituality. I’d thank him for the sharing of his wisdom in books and amazing video programs! I’d tell him what they have meant to me and how they have impacted my life.

Imagine you could time travel to any place at all – visiting a relative or a famous person like Einstein, Aristotle or Elvis. Where would you go? What would you say? Who would you visit?

photo credit: Ghetu daniel

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Hajra 319 pts

Hey Lori,

Can I go on for hours on this ;)

If I could time travel, my mom's parents; they passed away before I was born and going by the pictures and the stories I hear about them, I missed meeting two of the most wonderful people in the world. So, they would be my very first visit.

Also, I have been a huge history fan, so more than people I would be visiting era's - the Mughal era, the Egyptians and so many more. I think I wouldn't let go off the time travel machine...please something make the creation quick! :)

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Hajra Haha - yes, create it someone! It would be fun to actually see pockets of the past and to meet the people we hear about but only know through stories. It's fun to dream about it, isn't it?!

My latest conversation: This Writer's Strange Journey

MarkMcBaker 5 pts

Great post Lori !

Personally, I'd like to hang out with some of the Biblical authors, such as Paul. I think it would be interesting to have discussions with someone like that.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

MarkMcBaker It would Mark! How cool would that be! I'd want to look over their shoulders as they pen those words - and read them in their original language! I'd have to study Aramaic before I took that trip! Ah - maybe I'd just talk!

My latest conversation: How Do You Manage Expectation?

Frank-A Spark Starts 85 pts

Lori, I have a lot of interest in things from the past. Most of my dreamed of experiences relate to objects and not people. I would love to witness the Wall of China being built or see ancient Rome in all it's glory.Why? I don't know but these are just somethings I have always wondered about.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Frank-A Spark Starts That would be interesting Frank, to see the wall of China being built or ancient Rome. I loved seeing the historical spots when I was in Greece last year but imagine being there as history is being made! I bet you enjoy visiting the historical sites when you travel!

My latest conversation: How Do You Manage Expectation?

TheJackB 1503 pts

I am of the same mind as a few others- I might revisit a few moments for no other reason than fun. And I'd have to think about bigger changes.

For example, what would happen if I could meet Hitler before he came to power. How many lives could be saved if I 'removed' him from the world. Quite a few of my family would still be around.

A few years back some friends and I debated that very question and then made it tougher. Imagine that you meet Hitler when he was five years old. You know without a doubt that he is going to grow up to become a mass murderer and that the only way to prevent it would be to kill him. Could you do it?

I would definitely be interested in meeting my grandparents when they were young, would love to do the same with my parents.

But I would love to meet so many others Moses, Einstein, Alexander the Great, Davinci... Hard question to answer.

My latest conversation: Write What You Know

Lori 1857 pts moderator

TheJackB Hi Jack! I like the twist on that question. It reminds me of a futuristic movie with Tom Cruz where they could read your thoughts and imprison you before you even committed the crime - yikes?! But imagine you could influence the five-year-old in a positive way.

Those are some BIG personalities you'd visit Jack. What do you think we'd have to do or be, you and I, to be one of the BIG ones mentioned on a blog post like this 100 years from now?

TheJackB 1503 pts

Lori It would be idea to be able to influence that child in a positive way, but it would take the angst out of it. Let's adjust the scenario so that Hitler is an adult.

You are transported in time and are given the chance to assassinate him and know that doing so will save millions of lives. It is a whole different ball game then.

As for your second question, I think it is possible. If you do something that had a major impact upon people all things are possible.

My latest conversation: Write What You Know

Lori 1857 pts moderator

TheJackB I don't know what I'd do if I met Hitler as an adult. Now I'm glad this is an exercise of the imagination!

So finish this sentence, "I want to travel back in time to visit Jack because..." That's OK, Jack, you don't have to finish it. I'm going to sleep on the question, though!

My latest conversation: How Do You Manage Expectation?

AlexGosselin 13 pts

TheJackB This is an interesting take, have you ever watched the Lost TV series? There's a part in season 4 or 5 where a few people end up time-travelling to the '70s, where there's a nine-year-old version of someone who they know personally in 2005, and who grows up to murder a lot of people. One character (a former soldier) tries to shot him, another (a doctor) responds by saving him.

TheJackB 1503 pts

AlexGosselin I was a big fan of the show.

My latest conversation: Write What You Know

Jk Allen 132 pts

Hi Lori,

I wouldn't travel far to begin with. I would go back to my childhood and listen more closely to the lessons that my grandparents taught me.

Like Marcus_Sheridan , I would love to walk along side Jesus and his Disciples.

I would go back to meet Forest Gump.

I would spy on the CIA, FBI, and every other government agency that participates in... I'll leave it at that - I don't want to get too political!

Great post and exercise. I really did enjoy. The post alone made me think about some great memories I"ve had over my life.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Jk AllenMarcus_Sheridan Hey Jk! The LFI community does love it's grandparents. I'm surprised, even though grandparents made up two of my choices, how many others feel the same. Grandparents are special - probably one of the few things in life we are present to and enjoy in the moment. I wonder if that's because they are so present to us! What do you think?

JimK 109 pts

I also thought, what about Vimy Ridge, the mud of Paschendale in WW1, how about Normandy and the liberation of Holland in WW2. I can't even imagine the horrors these young men witnessed.

I considered even our own Native peoples, when the first settlers from overseas came. I would love to see their story. History is basically just his story. Our history books really only show one perspective on that.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

JimK Yes, an opportunity to collect the true history! How little we actually know of what really happened. We have words and photos and stories, but to BE there! Wow.

Too bad you missed that Pink Floyd concert! :-(

Julie | A Clear Sign 58 pts

Wow, there are so many possibilities! My first choice would be to go back and visit myself in my other incarnations...might pick up a few tips :)

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Julie | A Clear Sign Hi Julie! That sounds like some interesting trips! Who knows what one could learn!!!

Stuart Mills 106 pts

Wow, now I'm thinking of where to go, who to visit, and when to go to! Ah, the oddities of time travel ;-)

First, I would travel WAY back to ancient India, and spend some time with Siddhartha Gautama a.k.a The Buddha. I'm not sure whether I'd want to speak with him pre-enlightenment (when he was struggling to define his life) or post-enlightenment (when he had discovered himself). Either way, it would definitely be worth it.

If it was modern times, I'd have to go back a few years to when I was about to start university, and I'd tell my 19 year old self about the wonderful potential of university. And to take more chances :-)

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Stuart Mills Hi Sut! I love how some people chose to go back and give instructions to their younger self! Seeing Buddha (I'd vote for post-enlightenment) would be amazing!

blogaks 76 pts

Hi Lori,

How are you doing ?

Sorry to twist your question.

I would not like to go backward in time but in forward :) .

I would like to see if mankind has been indeed able to diffuse the prejudices w.r.t race, religion, gender. I would like to know "Can there be any ship like starship enterprise hehe!!!?"

If I am forced ( by you ;) ) to go back, I would love to go back to see India's freedom in 1947 and would smell the dynamic atmosphere at that time.

Next would be the woodstock festival to listen to Jimi Hendrix and to Pink Floyd with full lineup I would love to travel slowly when rock and roll was in full action. :) 60s ,70s , 80s. I would also tell people that they should not trust politicians at all ;).

blogaks 76 pts

To just add Pink Floyd did not play in Woodstock :) > I would like to see their "Pulse" concert :)

JimK 109 pts

blogaks Save a ticket for me. I missed that concert by two days. :(

Lori 1857 pts moderator

blogaks Wow Ashvini! You would really Rock that time machine! Going forward, if forced (by you; ) ) I would visit my descendants! that would be fun!

What a great idea to go to the liberation of India! And to go to woodstock! That would be awesome to be there! My personal choice would be disco, but I can go back into my personal past to visit that! (Yay Disco!)

As for the politicians... (nope - I'm not going there - past, future, or present!)

blogaks 76 pts

Lori

Haha Lori!! Going back I would change the word politician to scoundrel. At least we will have a good laugh later on . I am not forcing you because if the future is anything like Minority report, you would blame me ;)

Ken Wert 95 pts

I love these kinds of questions, Lori! There is a book called The Book of Questions (I think!) that has a bunch of these kinds of thought-provoking questions (and some downright silly ones as well!).

My first stop would be 1990. I would keep my grandma from getting in her car that day so she wouldn't get hit by the car that didn't stop for the stop sign. I would have loved my children to have gotten to know the most amazing lady I've known.

I would also love to go back and see my wife born and then bump into her at several different ages just to say hi.

The rest of the stops would depend on gas mileage. But assuming the time machine is solar powered (or gets really, really, really good mileage), I would love to visit Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, C.S. Lewis, Moses, Adam and Eve, Rockefeller, and a bunch of others I won't bore everyone with.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Ken Wert Hey Ken,

The Book of Questions sounds interesting! You definitely would change history! I never thought of this possibility when I wrote the post but others have!

It is also a cool idea to check in on your wife at different times in her life, like the Time Traveler's Wife story! I like your list of historical figures. It would be cool to visit many of them including C.S. Lewis. I'd like to look over his shoulder, or talk to him, while he was writing the first book in the Narnia series!

Al Smith 301 pts

For those familiar with Caddyshack, Belushi and Farley were NOT in that movie. I just added them to that list. Caddyshack included; Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, etc. and Lacey !

Al Smith 301 pts

Sorry it took me so long. i tried to comment earlier from laptop and it got deleted. Ok, here we go.

Jesus would be tuff to beat, but here are mine.

1. My dad, 25 years ago. He would be my age and I would be a better son, a sober son. And I would listen.

2. My granddad Brookie. Crazy and funny as hell. Taught me to fish, crab and catch bait. Great times.

3. A tie between Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill. Brilliant minds. (Jim Rohn in 3rd, Marcus)

4. Sorry, have to put sports heroes; Mickey Mantle, Johnny Unitas, Bear Bryant.

5. Love to have been on the set of "Caddyshack" in South Florida. And met John Belushi and Chris Farley.

6. Ok, one more ? Hung out with Stevie Ray Vaughn.

7. Oh yeah, Girls ! Never mind.

Thanks Lori. Glad you came through the storm ok. Big Hug and a High 5 !

Al

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Al Smith Ok Al, you took seven visits, but that's fine because others took only one or two! Like TashaGosselin you would visit your Dad when he was at the age you are now. I like that idea. Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill make me think of Norman Vincent Peale. It would be cool to be around his powerful energy!

How many of us have said they would visit grandparents. That says something special, I think! It kind of sets a new goal for me. Grandparenthood is a ways off for me yet, but still, it's never too early to set the Intention to be a special Grandma who would be so fondly treasured!

Al Smith 301 pts

LoriTashaGosselin I know you will be an awesome Grandma. And thanks for mentioning Norman Vincent Peale. The Power of Positive thinking is in my top 3 books of all time. have a GREAT-Ful day !

Bryce Christiansen 12 pts

I would probably go back to meet Roosevelt. I'd love to study a leader like him in the midst of the challenges he faced.

I always love seeing leaders in action.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Bryce Christiansen Hey Bryce! So you still have two other visits to take! What other leaders would you visit?

Jens 48 pts

Hi Lori,

I have actually never thought about this question before. But, my first thought when reading your headline was to find someone famous. Then, after reading your post, I completely agree. I would go back to see my parents on the day I was born, and visit my grandfather. I would probably need way more than three people, because I want to visit many in my family, but I'd also want to visit Aristotle, Einstein, Elvis and many more. And I'm thinking that I'd love to visit some of the bad guys in history as well, like Hitle, to help them change their minds before going to war :-)

Jens

Lori 1857 pts moderator

jens Funny isn't it Jens. We were there (on the day we were born) but we MISSED it! It would be so cool to go back to that time! I'd like to see the town too - it looks so old in the photos LOL

Good luck with your bad guy quest! Between the bunch of us, we're going to totally change the present with these visits!

DeliberateBlog 107 pts

Wow Lori. What a wonderful question.

1.) I'd go back and see my grandmother when she was a young woman and have spiritual conversations with her. She was an intuitive person at a time when that wasn't acceptable. I'd try to make her feel understood and that she wasn't alone.

2.) I'd go back and visit myself as a teenager and tell that girl not to worry. I'd tell her of the life that she would one day lead, that her pain was just temporary, and she would come to know the kind of joy that she couldn't even really imagine. I suppose, I'd also try to make her feel understood and not alone.

But then, if I did that, would it change everything? Would it change the person I am today? If so, I wouldn't go back and change a thing. Because all of it, the good, the bad and the seriously ugly has led me here right now, where I am. And I love where I am. So I'm not about to &%$#@ that up. :)

Hugs!

Melody

Lori 1857 pts moderator

DeliberateBlog Ah Melody - you got tangled up in the time travel trap! What a cool idea to go back to the younger you! Would a little less worrying be that bad!? :o

Your grandmother sounds nice! Do you take after her? She was ahead of her time!?

You still have one more visit to cash in! Who else would you visit assuming that visit wouldn't change your present life? Or is that even possible?

DeliberateBlog 107 pts

Lori Hey Lori, yes my grandmother was incredibly intuitive, but well ahead of her time. She crew up in the 20's and 30's in Germany, and lived through the war. In that time, you didn't talk about having dreams of people dying or being able to read their energy with a set of playing cards. Most of the women in my family are intuitive, but it seemed to start with her (or at least she was the first one to sort of admit it).

Uff, I don't know. I don't really spend much time thinking about the past. I suppose it would be interesting to go back and see how the pyramids were really built. That might be a fun day trip, ha, ha. I'm not sure if it's possible to go back and not change a thing. Our mere presence in the past would change the future. So, I guess we'd have to go as just observers, invisible and unable to interact. Hmmmm. How do we know that future us isn't doing that right now? :)

Lori 1857 pts moderator

DeliberateBlog I'd like to see how they built the pyramids too, or how about those figures on Easter Island or the stones at Stonehenge?

Have you read Ray Bradbury's short story about the fellow who travels back in time and steps on a butterfly by mistake and changes the present? he stepped of the path by mistake, a path intended to keep them from touching the past.

This all reminds me of a funny sit com episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon is getting Leonard to sign his Roommates agreement. There is one part that says if either of them were to perfect time travel they would travel back in time to the moment just ahead of them now, and let them know. Leonard signs, they sit and wait and look around and nothing happens and then Sheldon says, "Well that's disappointing." LOL

My latest conversation: How Do You Manage Expectation?

JMattHicks 1740 pts moderator

OH. SNAP.

What a question. I'm currently going back to school and we just finished studying Thomas Paine's "Common Sense." So, aside from (like Marcus_Sheridan ) visiting with Christ and His apostles (particularly Paul), it'd be Thomas Paine. His "Common Sense" sparked the turning of the tides toward an American revolution. IMO, his pamphlet is a MUST READ for any American!

JMattHicks 1740 pts moderator

Marcus_Sheridan P.S., that's 18th Century, roughly 1760's-1770's (I'm terrible with dates).

Lori 1857 pts moderator

JMattHicksMarcus_Sheridan Hi Jeremy! I'll have to look for that. It would be interesting to see his role in history. What are you studying in school besides this? Are you a History major?

JMattHicks 1740 pts moderator

LoriMarcus_Sheridan I'm working on a Master's in History, but focusing on American History. That's really all I'm studying at the moment, just two classes; one is US Constitutional History and the other is Historiography...it's safe to say the former is MUCH more interesting than the later!

Marcus_Sheridan 603 pts

Great question Lori. Here's my quick answer:

1. I'd go back 2000 years and walk with Jesus and the disciples.

2. I'd go back to 1820 (forgot exact year) and sit down with Jefferson and Adams as they both were in their final days. I'd ask them so many questions. Can't even start with them all.

3. I'd go back to 1860 and chat with Lincoln

4. I'd go back to 2009 and sit with my personal development hero of the 21st century, Jim Rohn. What an amazing man.

Lori 1857 pts moderator

Marcus_Sheridan Hey Marcus!

Can you IMAGINE the information you could collect and the energy you'd absorb by being there!!? I would like to meet Jesus too. How cool would it be to be a part of that crowd, just sitting there on the grass listening!

It would be fun to meet Lincoln too. I've read so much about him. :-) It might be fun to meet him before he became president, too!

NancyD68 685 pts

Interesting question. I would want to meet Christ while he walked among us. I want to see how far organized religion is from what he and the disciples were teaching in those days.

Seems an odd choice for a person like me, but it certainly would be interesting!

Lori 1857 pts moderator

NancyD68 Hi Nancy! I was going to make exactly that choice - specifically I would go on the day he fed the crowd with the loaves and the fishes. And yes, I'd like to hear the good news in the original language (I'd have to be able to understand it) and directly from Jesus. How interesting that would be!

Marcus_Sheridan 603 pts

NancyD68 Love that response Nancy. :)

Conversation from Twitter

lifeforinstance
lifeforinstance

kathfinney Hi! Thanks for the RT! Interesting choices for your time travel visits!!!

lorigosselin
lorigosselin

blogaks Thanks for the RT Ashvini! :-)



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