Watching Time After Time I realized that the protagonists of the film (H.G. Wells and Jack The Ripper, together in San Francisco in the 1970’s!) were deeply unprepared for their displacement from Victorian London. The movie makes much of their inevitable cultural dislocation, but explores little of just how a time traveller would survive in a land 200 years removed from their birth.
This, together with the recent release of Safety Not Guaranteed (a film based on the notorious newspaper classified ad seeking fellow time travellers) set me to thinking: if I knew that I was to be sent forward or backward200 years with little hope of return, and if all I could take with me on the journey was limited to what I could carry, what five things would be at the top of my list?
One might assume that packing for the past would be easier than preparing for the future. The past has the benefit of existing in the historical record, whereas ages ahead of our own are completely unknowable. You might emerge from your time machine to find a future utopia or a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
With that in mind, I tried to keep my list to items that would work equally well in both the past and the future.
- A few dozen 1 oz. gold bars. Currency values will change, and we’re already creating jewelry-quality diamonds in the lab, but gold should retain some value.
A water filtration device. City water in 1812 would very likely make me ill (there’s a reason that people drank alcohol constantly in the past: it was free of disease) and I can’t know what might be in the water of 2212.- A complete combat and survival medical kit.
A machete, firearm, 1000 rounds of ammunition, blankets and fire-starters*. The city I live in – Calgary – didn’t have permanent settlement until 1873. Assuming that the time machine transported me temporally but not physically, I would most likely be at the mercy of nomadic Peigan and Blackfoot tribes when I arrived in 1812.- A ruggedized laptop with a solar recharger. Valuable in both the past (as being completely ahead of its time) and the future (as a perfectly preserved antique). Filled with topographical maps, stockmarket histories, and survival manuals.
What would you put on your time travel equipment list? Share your preparations in the comments below…
* I acknowledge that I am cheating somewhat by lumping these items together. If I had to choose just one item, it would be the firearm: I could use the gunpowder from ammo to start fires, and I could always knapp a knife from flint.