If you could travel back to three periods of history or into the future which ones, would you pick? I’ve asked quite a few people this question before. My sister said she’d love to go back to the medieval period as she could be a princess and be courted by many a handsome knight. If only! A friend of mine said he’d like to travel back to Shanghai in the 1920s because of the incredible music scene during that period. Another friend of mine said she’d like to go back to India before the British arrived and see what it would have been like without any British influence. My dad who is an atheist said he’d like to travel back in time to when Jesus was alive and kicking just to see what all the fuss was about. My mum said she fancied the roaring twenties in New York because of the exquisite and flamboyant fashion (flapper dresses etc ) and crazy parties. Many of my friends said the Romans would be an interesting one because of their cultural legacy that still exists nowadays. The Greeks were another answer I frequently got. Overall, the most common answer was the Egyptians because of the beautiful Egyptian artifacts we have stored in museums. I mean all these periods of time sound fascinating to me! Sign me up! I wouldn’t mind being a princess and courted by numerous handsome knights! Yes, please!
However, my three answers are somewhat different so let me tell you all about which periods of time I’d pick!
Firstly, I’ve always been interested in pre-Columbian times which is probably why I’m doing Spanish and Social Anthropology as my degree. I think the Aztecs were a captivating and powerful empire and I would love to travel back in time to experience Mesoamerica without the Spanish influence. I’d love to see the way they dressed as I’m interested in fashion and design and understand their perspective on life in relation to religion and culture. As long as I wasn’t the human sacrifice (the Aztecs believed in human sacrifice profusely much like the Maya) I think I’d have quite an interesting time. I’d be particularly interested in seeing the architectural gems the Aztecs built- their palaces, temples, plazas, and statues. Being interested in languages it would be entrancing to hear them speak in Nahuatl. I might even pick up quite a bit! I few of my friends also picked the Aztecs or the Maya.
Secondly, the next period I would travel back to would be the Jurassic period! I think experiencing the world pre the Anthropocene would be incredible. Seeing a world not yet dominated by humans without any form of infrastructure, deforestation or globalization or essentially human activity would be amazing. The world would be truly wild and feel very different from the one we know today. Seeing great forests, the size of countries, violent tsunami-like waves thrashing the shores, and primordial, mysterious pools of ancient water would be terrifying but completely breath-taking at the same time. Moreover, who doesn’t want to see what dinosaurs looked like? To be honest I’m curious! Did they really have feathers and look like massive birds or were they reptilian monsters who’d gobble a human up in one bite- the carnivorous ones definitely would. Furthermore, I’d love to see what early humans looked like and were like. I mean probably just furry little mammals, but it would be thought-provoking to see our homo sapiens ancestors and to think what they would eventually evolve into. Additionally, it would be exhilarating to spot Neanderthals who were another species of human, and the interaction between our ancestors and the Neanderthals. Experiencing this period of time would be highly stimulating and give one a totally different perspective on our world.
Thirdly, the last period of time I would travel to would be the future! I’m going forwards this time! Adventurous I know! I’m just going to be vague here and say the future. This is probably because my favorite type of fiction is dystopian fiction. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of the future and what it may hold. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a utopian one for mankind. However even it was to take a turn south, I’d still like to see what lay in store for my great-great-great, great, great relatives. I always think of life as a book. You can read certain chapters and skim the ones before them, but you never get to see the chapters at the end of the book. So even if the future involved the world bursting into flames and the four horsemen of the apocalypse charging down the road, I’d still want to know what mankind’s fate would be. I’m hoping this won’t be the future. I’m optimistic.
So, what did you think? Which periods of time grabbed your fancy? Which three periods of time would you pick to travel back to or forwards to?
