What would be your favorite time traveling destinations?

'Best of' lists — By Bob Riel on May 8, 2009 at 7:17 am

Now, here is a topic to get you thinking. We all have our list of dream travel destinations, of course. But those destinations all exist today, in the 21st century. What if you could time travel? That would open up a whole slew of other travel options, now wouldn’t it? Turner Wright came up with a list of his 10 favorite time traveling destinations and wrote about them for Brave New Traveler. Some of my own favorites on his list include:

Rome, Height of the Empire – No one in living memory has ever really seen the Colosseum. Whatever your religious beliefs, there used to be gods in that city; watching over the empire from their marbled countenance, and ensuring trade on one of the first greatest centers of business in the western world: the Roman Forum. Imagine being able to walk down the epitome of civilization.

Ancient Egypt, c. 2500 BC- Watch the building of the pyramids and learn more about archaeoastronomy – skylights in the pyramids were carved so that certain constellations could be viewed at a set time of year. Even the great structures themselves were arranged on the sand corresponding to the placement of three stars overhead. Discover the meaning of the Great Sphinx – who knows why it was built?

India, c. 600 BC- The Buddha had about forty-five good years of teaching from the time of his reaching enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree to his death. Don’t waste them. Meeting the Awakened One and learning the dhamma firsthand would be an experience for which almost anyone in Asia would trade his or her life. Try and eliminate the suffering in your heart before your departure.

Check out the article to see his entire list, which includes the Old West in the United States, the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in the 5th century, ancient Babylon in the 6th century B.C., and four other places. What destinations would be on your list?