If you could travel back in time….

Manach

One should not change the past, but perhaps record it better. The reason why much of classical and medieval era Irish history is present and not erased were due to the Four Masters (Franciscan friars) who gathered records before they could be destroyed. So, gifting them a large stack of pens and parchment might serve and save.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121959804#Comment_121959804

You could bring a drone and watch from above.

Perhaps it would be interesting to see the sieges of Constantinople by the Arabs and later by the Turks, or the siege of Baghdad by Genghis Khan.

Anaki r2d2

I think I'd take myself back to 1955, meet up with Marty McFly. Place a few bets, then time travel to mutiple Beetles, Stone Roses, Oasis early gigs then time tavel home to my new little house in the Maldives. Buying a few shares in Amazon, Google, on the way past.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917065#Comment_121917065

this is 100% my answer, it’d be class.

For other reasons I’d also pick December 2015.

iamstop

I'd tell younger me to do back stretches every day.

Strumms

I’d steer clear of wars and anything traumatic. I’m a music fan, love my gigs so I’d love to have a machine to travel back through time and experience the greatest gigs. Two off the top of my head…

The Rollings Stones - Brussels 1973… released all their classic albums and were arguably at the peak of their live power. Have a soundboard or FM bootleg of this and it is, and they were fûcking incredible…..

The Clash - New York 1981… released all the classics again and were at their apex of performing and songwriting around this time..

Gigs by The Smiths, Jimmy Cliff, The Beatles ( curiosity ) and lots of other favorites.

HalloweenJack

LA in the 70s, was a wild and exciting time in music and cinema.

Somewhere in the Balkans/Austria-Hungary in the late 19th/early 20th century. A truly fascinating period of time.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925734#Comment_121925734

Ah Boards. Where a thread about time travel has a bash at the Trans community within 21 posts…

On topic: How far back could you go with English as your language and still be able to converse I wonder? Is there a language that can get you back the furthest? Has Arabic changed much? Or Mandarin? Or are all languages essentially unintelligible compared to what was spoken more than a couple of hundred years ago?

Badly Drunk Boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965699#Comment_121965699

Icelandic hasn't changed too much in that past 1000 years, I think, apart from new additions to the vocabulary.

mariaalice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121959804#Comment_121959804

interesting, but I'd add minus the smell of the guts and gore and the sound of heads and bodies being smashed to pieces.

For me I'd go back to aged 18 and do the training for the job I was always meant to do on the other hand I'm not sure if I'd have stuck it out at 18 so it might have been better it happened a bit later in life.

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121916094#Comment_121916094

I am just back from a trip to Boston and while doing the tours I was thinking what it would be like to go back to that time when the American revolution was kicking off, like you say to observe, get the feeling of the people there and see what the place was like things like that.

Fr Tod Umptious

I'd go back to September 1951 and put a diversion in place outside Foxford.

vectra

Ideally back to the 80's but If I had a specific choice it would be 8th December 1979 when I had my first date with my now wife.
2 things I would absolutely change,
1) I would never had smoked. * gave them up August 1991 and never touched them since.
2) Alcohol, Bastard of a thing cost me an absolute fortune and almost my relationship.

Wanderer78

72, to confirm that the authors of the limits to growth are indeed 100% correct, and that we are fcuking up the planet, id probably be burned at the stake, but shur….

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058342622/if-you-could-travel-back-in-time

Whatever you do, or don't do, you already did, or didn't do.

I'd rather go forward, see what becomes of us.

Vote4Squirrels

I’d go back to the 1900s and meet my grandad - great craic by all stories but he passed when my dad was only 11.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121919385#Comment_121919385

I hope you'd warm him not to invade Russia? To be happy with France, half Poland and the low countries?

cj maxx

I’d go back and watch Daddy playing Football . He always follows it , and the club he played for is no longer . I imagine he was a terrier type player . Unfortunately , I take after my mother !

BorneTobyWilde

I'd go back to the crucifixion of Jesus and follow him the 40 days after he rose from death

Posy

If I could go back as a fly on the wall type situation, I'd go back to the dates and places those women such as Annie McCarrick and Deirdre Jacob disappeared to see what on earth became of them. I'd also attend Trevor Deely's Christmas party in December 2000 to follow him on his walk home and see what happened to him. Even if I couldn't change the outcome, I'd be able to get answers for their relatives.

If I could personally change things, I would go back to the mid/late 2000's and do one extra year of college to train as a teacher because I'd love every summer and Christmas off.

If I could spend money, I'd go back and buy a few houses in Dublin back when they were about a grand.

cj maxx

I ‘d go back and believe that the ’98 ceasefire was the actual end.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121972409#Comment_121972409

brave move mentioning teachers holidays 😂

dulpit

Reported that guy now, what is wrong with people?

brownbinman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958991#Comment_121958991

Get there before July the 19th, Ice Age ended on that day

cj maxx

I’d go back and become a wildlife cameraman . It seems like an amazing job

Badly Drunk Boy

I recently saw a bit of an old episode of 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and the great Sean Locke was asked this question. His answer was to go to Germany in 1933, where he'd try to convince Hitler to change his style of moustache, maybe to a Tom Selleck Magnum-style moustache.

Of course it was Sean's delivery that made it so hilarious.😀

Vote4Squirrels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121972409#Comment_121972409

Oh that is a lovely one! Bless you.

Montage of Feck

Convince Napoleon that invading Ireland would work out better than Egypt. The alternate history of a how a French speaking united Irish republic would turn out would be interesting.

randd1

If I couldn't affect the past, was there purely to observe and given time to do so? The aftermath of the fall of the Roman Empire. It seems to me that technology, art, science, education went backwards in Europe for a while. I'd like to see if it really did, or did it just transition.

If I could change things on a personal level, I'd probably just invest small amounts early in things like Microsoft, Apple, Google and such and just live the easy life.

If I could change things wholesale, I'm not sure I would. There's too much to change, I wouldn't know were to start, and what we know and who we are is a consequence of what has happened.