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Introduction

Time travel is a pervasive theme in popular culture. For something that doesn’t really exist, time travel is strangely popular.

•Google shows about ten times as many links for time travel as for European travel.

•Time travel has inspired countless books, movies, TV shows, videogames and comic books.

My interest in time travel has often been extremely personal. I fantasize about talking to myself—not dead presidents or future interplanetary voyagers.

I’ve contemplated how the 11-year-old me would have reacted to the 20-year-old me. And would the 15-year-old me think the 40-year-old me is interesting, cool, smart, boring, stupid, scary or a jerk?

More importantly—and the impetus for this book—I’ve thought that if the old me could have spoken to the young me, maybe I wouldn’t have made so many stupid mistakes. Maybe now I’d be happier, healthier and wealthier.

I wish I could forcefully advise my younger self to “do this, but not that.” The 10-, 20- and 60-year-old me might ignore the advice of parents, teachers, doctors and accountants—but not the advice of me.

If I talk to myself I have to listen.

While technology will not yet allow me to go back and talk to myself, I can warn and advise anyone else who’s willing to pay attention.

That’s why I wrote this book. And, maybe by looking back, I can influence my own future.