The premise is that we have a working time machine, but that there are two problems with it:
- The trip is one-way, and
- The machine will randomly choose the direction of time travel-you can only choose the number of years to travel.
I’ve read the OP, but I still don’t understand what question the poll is for.
Changed poll title to “how far would you travel”. Does that help?
Yeah, this. My assumption is that we are to select a point in time where some number of years missed for the exact date of arrival is least troubling.
Like Ancient Rome could be a few years off, but that might be bad for Civil War days.
That something like it?
Nope, for that I’ll wait for the 2.0 version with more control please.
One hundred for me. Anything less wouldn’t be as interesting, and one thousand I wouldn’t even recognize.
Just assume that the machine, for some reason that I will never explain, will only transport you to the presets given.
I picked 100 years-I need my glasses to see so a bigger jump backwards is out of the question, and I think I could survive a 100-year future shock just fine.
Just one more try at comprehension, if you please.
- I pick some number
- The machine takes me that precise number of years out of the present
- It may be future or past, but I won’t know that until I get there
- Wherever that is, I’m stuck there
What am I missing?
Nothing.
Thanks. I picked 25 since I can relate to that far back in my past and would be curious about how much things will have changed by then in the future. Also I suspect I would notice the 50 year difference and could adapt to that.
By the way, do we retain our current ages in the travel? If not, I think I’ll punt.
Standard time travel-the world ages or de-ages, but you don’t.
Do we arrive buck naked, can we take at least a bit of luggage, what about current chronic health issues, how much lead time [can we pack luggage or is it pick one and poof?] can hubby travel with me, can we pick a place [like right now I am in CT, if I opt for 1000 years, would we pop up exactly where we are or could we pick a destination without having to travel there first?]
sigh
Your body weight plus 20 pounds to account for clothing and incidentals.
One person at a time.
Time travel only-where you start out is where you end up.
I wasn’t willing to risk going backwards more than 10 years. That’s about the amount of technological advance I’m willing to sacrifice. Which probably gets me very little reward if I go forward, but that’s why it’s a gamble, no?
ETA: I skipped the 25-year option because, in addition to the lack of internet, I really have no desire to re-live the 80s. And anything beyond that puts me at too much of a disadvantage in terms of civil rights, so forget it. 10 years is little enough convenience if I go backwards with the advantage of me knowing enough about “future” market trends to make my money and live comfortably.
100 years.
I could probably make it in 1911.
My skillset might need some retooling if I show up in 2111, but maybe the world will need old-school C# developers. 
I’d like to pick +/- 1,000 but I’m afraid I’d end in the future and it would be a world-wide wasteland. I think 1000 years in the past would be cool though.
I presume you will be dressing lightly and carrying reference books?
The world loves an optimist…for dinner. 
I decided on 1 year. Starting with the backwards cases…I’m horrified with the idea of living in Pre-Columbus America, I would actively dislike 1911 New Jersey, I could deal with 1961 and 1986, though I’m not keen on being there.
Late May 2001, I wonder what I’m going to be spending the first 3 months trying to do? While preventing the terrorist attacks is a laudable goal, I don’t know if I could deal with failing.
2006, who cares? It’s hardly any different than today. 2010, It’s basically just like today, but I’ll have a year’s worth of Lottery numbers and stocks picked, so I will be filthy rich by the next year, and could pick up where my life left off.
Going forward, it’s a total crapshoot, just a ton of trouble dealing with your disappearance, and apparent lack of aging. In this case, I’m most likely to get by with a 1 year span, I could tell people I went on a hitchiking trip to “find myself” or some other crap.
Can I get something shorter than a year, 2 weeks, maybe? I’ll hide out in my basement, win the lottery, then go on with my life, or I take a 2 week vacation in the void, which nobody is going to care about.