We will be posting opportunities, meetings and events for time travelers. If you have not attended the posted event, then its new to you and you are free to join at any point in your timeline. However, if you have attended the event, please keep in mind that spoilers are not welcome and any comments to a post that contains spoilers will be immediately deleted.
Meanwhile, please do feel free to post your own events in the comments section.
Eloi Cole, a young man from the future, was arrested at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN Switzerland in April 2010. The full story is here:
Man arrested at Large Hadron Collider claims he’s from the future
The care one must take to not be arrested or detained during time traveling cannot be overstated. Though, what was not reported was his rescue less than 24 hours later by a team of time travelers who infiltrated the Swiss military installation where he was being held for questioning by EU officials.
The lesson here is to have some kind of backup. The buddy system is one way to travel. Always make sure someone—your partner—from your time knows where and when you are going, and expects to see you at some predetermined meeting location and time. In the event that you do not show up for the meeting, your partner will then initiate a search.
Whether it is the fact that Pompeii was completely destroyed in 79 B.C., or whether it is the fact that Pompeii was preserved, rediscovered and restored in the 18th-20th centuries, people feel a strange draw toward the city and that fateful day. Pompeii remains a popular time travel destination despite the extreme dangers one faces if one does not do the proper reconnaissance.
Pompeii is a city in Ancient Rome located about 8 miles southeast of the volcano Mt. Vesuvius, which not only destroyed the city on August 24th, 79 A.D., but had tormented it for years with earthquakes. The most notable occurs on the 5th of February 62, which did a great deal of damage to Pompeii resulting in fires. The days after the earthquake should be avoided as the city is in absolute chaos with anarchy followed by starvation and disease due to the social breakdown. Nearby Herculaneum and Nuceria were also affected.
The day before the final eruption, Pompeii and the surrounding cities ironically celebrated Vulcanalia, which is a festival celebrating the Vulcan, the god of fire. This is a relatively popular time travel destination, though one must take care not to get so caught up in the festivities so as to sleep in on volcano day.
Mt. Vesuvius begins erupting on August 24th, 79 A.D. It is advised to be completely out of the area on that day. The inhabitants of Pompeii and the nearby cities met their fate due to the heat of the volcanic vents, which reaches temperatures of almost 500F (250C). The city was buried days later under tons and tons of ash.
One of the sights to see in Pompeii is the Temple of Jupiter. The first time traveler should be prepared for the lavish colors with which the marble is painted. One familiar with Roman ruins and statues circa 2000 A.D. is accustomed to the beautiful bright white marble. However, the Romans actually painted these statues, which to our modern eyes looks rather silly. Regardless, nothing rivals seeing this Roman architecture at the height of its glory! These cities are amazing and experiencing them firsthand really puts our modern accomplishments in a new light.
The following map shows the region affected by Vesuvius. The entire area should be avoided in the day of and following the eruption as there are a good number of earthquakes and aftershocks followed by severe social breakdown. It is relatively safe however to view the eruption off the coast of Herculaneum. Keep in mind that it wont do to hire a vessel since the captain will panic during the eruption. It is best to procure your own vessel if this is something that interests you.
Other events of interest during this year was the ascension of Emperor Titus after the death of his father Vespasian on 23 June 79. Later that year Titus dedicates the coliseum. If you want tickets to the grand opening of the Flavian Amphitheatre (known today as the Coliseum), be prepared to work hard for them. This will take some serious infiltration into Roman aristocracy. I know some individuals who have devoted years of their life for this opportunity. Some feel its worth it. However, one must keep in mind that about 5000 animals were killed that day along with half as many Roman soldiers. This experience may not be for everyone from our more animal/human-rights minded time.
Time travel can be an incredibly fulfilling pastime if performed in moderation. However, without appropriate care, it can wreak havoc on relationships among friends and family.
Your friends and family are probably unaware of your adventures, since many “practical” people would disapprove of such reckless behavior. This often leads to the time traveler leading a double life of sorts. First and foremost, I must advise that if one has dependents, the responsible time traveler needs to consider his or her responsibilities at home before rushing off on what are often relatively dangerous adventures.
Time travel, at best can leave one a bit estranged, and at its worst, can leave one depressed with feelings that nothing really matters. We will deal with the latter issue of time travel induced depression at another time, and focus for the moment on estrangement.
The first problem one encounters is that of discontinuity. While the rest of the world is moving forward in linear time, the time traveler is typically inserting periods of time (often large) into what others perceived as their daily life. A time traveler who has just spent two weeks in ancient Greece is apt to forget that lunchtime conversation that he or she had with a colleague just two days ago, or forget that he or she promised to do a favor after a phone conversation just last night. After time, those around us tend to see us as unfocused, forgetful, undependable, or downright daft.
The only solution to this problem is to keep detailed records of conversations and happenings. That way a traveler will be able to refresh one’s memory after a long trip, and remember that important conversation or promise. Without careful organization, one’s reputation as a dependable person will begin to suffer surprisingly rapidly.
The second problem is that one’s body changes in time. Your hair grows. Yet gain or lose weight. You get tan or fade. It is very suspicious to go to bed at night and to wake up with a tan. This is a very delicate point that takes some planning. Fortunately, with the advent of tanning salons, one can rely on plausible deniability. Men should be mindful of the state of their facial hair. And one must be careful not to gain or lose too much weight on a trip.
These issues can be exacerbated over extended travels, or even if one partakes in a great number of short journeys. I once knew of a young man from New Jersey who in his early thirties lived with his mother. She nagged incessantly, and as a form of escape, the young man would time travel to exotic locales for days on end. He drank heavily on his trips and the fact that he was away 7 days every other day caught up with him. His mother saw him gain weight at an excessive rate. The end result of their dysfunctional relationship was that he had aged almost 10 years in one year of her life. She begged for him to see a doctor, and her persistence only served to drive him further away and for longer. After five years he had aged almost 30 years. The effect was noticeable to everyone as this 35 year old man now carried the burden of 60+ years of life. His doctors were baffled and were convinced that he had some sort of syndrome. His mother was heartbroken and distraught. He was so out of touch with his own time, that he was unable to function. And one day he simply disappeared. Whether he met his demise during one of his trips, simply died of old age, or just never came back, no one ever knew.
Such stories, of varying degree, are not uncommon among time travelers. Rapid aging, changes in personality, the rapid acquisition of some obscure skill or knowledge all alert others to irregularities in lifestyle. Simply put, close relationships cannot be effectively maintained unless one’s partner is aware of, and supports (or partakes in) one’s time travel adventures.
The thought of time travel conjures up images of adventure, danger, excitement, romance, exploration and discovery. Long an activity reserved for the social or academic elite, new technologies are making time travel potentially accessible to just about everyone.
The rapid growth of accessibility is being felt in time traveling circles as evidenced by a recent comment made by a fellow traveler:
Stop visiting the grassy knoll in Dallas in 1963. The last time I was there it was packed with time travellers and you couldn’t see a thing.
Patrick Ulan-Bator, Chad
Such instances are a result of uneducated time travelers not really knowing where or when they want to visit. Such a lack of imagination of the uninitiated is evident from a survey given to high school students in Fond du Lac Wisconsin USA in 1983. The students were asked to describe which historical event they would visit if they could travel back in time. The top two responses were “The Gettysburg Address” and “The Crucifixion of Christ”. The first is especially surprising since many of these students couldn’t bear to sit through a lecture on the Gettysburg Address nor could they name who was giving the address and why. The second choice also shows a great deal of naivete as crucifixions are especially horrific and gruesome. Understandably, one might wish to meet their Lord and Savior, but in that case one might select a happier occasion, or at least one where He is potentially accessible.
In the notes that follow, I will attempt to introduce potential travelers to the vast array of times and places to visit. A single grassy knoll need not become overcrowded. There are many exciting times and events to experience and these become apparent when one begins to learn a little.
Time travel is also fraught with extreme danger. There is no embassy to get you out if things go awry. A bandit ambush on the trail can take even a seasoned time traveler by surprise, as can one of a multitude of horrible diseases. Novices learn quickly that playing a god is a very bad idea and that keeping your head down and staying out of sight is the best way to enjoy your trip. Here we will discuss various dangers and difficulties a traveler may encounter.
There is always a handful of individuals who wish to make it rich by smuggling items through time. One quickly finds that it is typically very difficult to make any real profit easily. Most attempts at becoming rich from travels are met with disaster. In future posts I will explain why and how certain individuals have met their demise by smuggling artifacts back and forth in time.
Last, there is always someone who wants to change the timeline. These individuals may have been successful. We will never know, since the timeline we experience is the net result of all such interactions. Those of you who want to try to prevent your birth or something crazy like that will be unsuccessful. Don’t try to control time—enjoy it.
In the coming posts I, Dr. Aeterno, and some of my fellow travelers look forward to providing you with some ideas, insights, warnings and stories obtained from the adventures that we occasionally undertake.
