The best era to have lived

[Sourdough]

My first reaction was anytime before Barrack Obama.

But my favorite time in history is the mountain man era so there’s that.

But I got my drivers license in 1971…in Southern California….the height of the muscle car era… are you kidding me… the absolute best time to be a kid in America. 1/3rd the population there is now. We just went to the moon! Everything was possible.

So as much as I detest what has happened to my country since Obama, I’d still opt to be born when I was. And I’m fortunate to have enough money to navigate around all the nonsense and stupidity that exists today.

it would have been awesome to have hunted Kenya though.

 

[Traveler1]

The eras I know, that would the 80's. It was my first to Africa with my father and the start of traveling on round the world adventures with him.
Africa Eras Only: As for unknown eras, at first jump I would say early 1900's like when Bell was in Africa, but travel took longer and I could only shoot a few hundred before I became bored. Travel to the interior was tougher and you need a family of porters. Not to meant my language skills suck, I would have need a translator. So that leads to the 1913-1920's, prior to WWI as several other have pointed out meant less conflict between borders, so you could generally still roam without to much trouble. Closer to the early 1920's, the music was good, fun women "flappers" no prohibition in Africa and you could travel by car. So you load all supplies up drive to a nice spot make a good base camp then go by foot. By this era, I believe you could still travel on your own making your own adventure or hire PH, so the best of both worlds.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I was borne in 58 so, as @Kevin Peacocke alluded to, that time in northern and southern Rhodesia was a very special time

to be aged 20 as the 50s began would have been special there

only though, if you were from a farming community and / or worked for the Parks

I’ve loved my time on this planet

today I’m supposed to be in Mozambique, but work and clients got in the way

without them though, no shooting and no trips would be possible

so …

At the risk of being cliché’d - today and tomorrow is my favourite time

I just have to remember to ring out every drop rather than get submerged in politics, none of which I can change one iota

j

@bowjijohn
The good models were made in 58 mate its just that spare parts for us aren't easy to get
If I have a shit day I just say in2 days time today will be yesterday and tomorrow will be today so don't worry. Yes I do confuse myself with that saying at time but the 58 model is like the Whelen. We just go quietly along and get the job done
Bob

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I would say the 1950's, or right now if you are extremely wealthy. If you were a hard working guy in the 50'sand its something you wanted to do you could probably make it happen and it wasn't complicated like it is now. But if a guy is loaded with cash, I mean really loaded, Africa could be your playground right now.

This is interesting and possibly the subject of a separate post some time, - much money do you need to live the grand hunting life?
once the kids are fledged and you are out of the make work projects stage like house renovations then there is a lot more funding for life pursuits.
I don't think you have to be very wealthy to live the grand life in Africa, but probably 'reasonably off'. In the current here and now that probably equates to burning about US$7k a month each, and saving out of that for bigger splurges every four months or so.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I like where I am now, but would love to visit other eras.
My friends do tell me that I am a lot older than my age would indicate.

@Wyatt Smith
You are older than your years because you have listened to your elders and learnt from them. You have also adopted the values of your elders. This has made you smarter and wiser than a lot of your peers.
It is up to us to make the years we live in to make them the best years that we can. We can all winge and bitch about today's society but it is what we have got and WE have to make the best of it.
I was born in simpler times and enjoyed the 60s,70s,80s,90s, you get the picture.
Each eara had its own benefits but as we go forward we seen to have more. 30 years ago this forum couldn't have existed. In your time it is a natural thing to have computers.
Each era has its pros and cons. Some say I I enjoyed the old days but some things about the oldays you can shove where the sun don't shine. Give me the luxury of air con we didn't have as kids, safe work practices so we don't end up with stuffed bodies from abusing them from stupid work practices of the past.
Enough of my rant .
Just make the time you live in the best and live life to the full. Have no regrets and follow your dreams.
Bob

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

My first reaction was anytime before Barrack Obama.

But my favorite time in history is the mountain man era so there’s that.

But I got my drivers license in 1971…in Southern California….the height of the muscle car era… are you kidding me… the absolute best time to be a kid in America. 1/3rd the population there is now. We just went to the moon! Everything was possible.

So as much as I detest what has happened to my country since Obama, I’d still opt to be born when I was. And I’m fortunate to have enough money to navigate around all the nonsense and stupidity that exists today.

it would have been awesome to have hunted Kenya though.

I was thinking of the mountain man era myself

 

[R.M.C.]

I'd wanna be a cave man, before complex languages and stuff. Back to the simple times lol

 

[Dukeisok]

Every Era has its ups and downs. I've often thought i would like to live in the 1920s or even the 1950s, but whenever I am tempted to wish, I think of all the old graveyards I've been to where there were many women who died in childbirth and infants who died before they were named. I live in the southern US, the 20s were great, but only if you were white. Comparison kills contentment and its human nature to long for more. This is good at times because that longing drives us to work hard, explore the world, build legacies and strive to lead our children to better. At times though this drive leads us to become workaholics. I'll take the current Era.

 

[matt vejar]

1970’s because Mark Wooters paid $750 dollars for a big 5 license in Kenya! I was inHigh School 76 and my dad bought 375 H&H pre -64 in late 60’s. I was ready to go!! Only problem was $$$$.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

The question makes me think of the romantic times of adventure both in North America and Africa. If I could I would have loved to have seen the great plains of the United States and Canada, although neither was under control of the governments of the areas during the early to mid 1800's. To see the massive herds of bison on the great plains, the herds of elk and the free roaming predators, plains grizzlies and wolves boggles my mind. All with my trusty Sharps in my scabbard.
Africa, well that would be for me the late 1800's to pre WW1, circa The Ghost and the Darkness. Steamships to get there, steam locomotives to go further inland, shooting a fine British double or Rigby bolt action. Needless to say, I would have to been born into a very wealthy family. And I probably would have died a younger man. In those times death came easily. An infected wound or broken bone was often a death sentence.

Thanks for the topic and discussion Kevin.

 

[Sourdough]

@Neil Molendyk well said. Nice timeline. For those who might not be aware of what the US looked like in regards to animals in the early 1800’s check out the Journal written by James O Pattie. It is an excellent read. And you can find a free pdf version on the Internet.

At a restaurant in Anchorage, the Arctic Roadrunner, there are photos and stories of their earliest patrons. One was a trapper who in the nineteen teens was held up for two weeks by a migrating herd of Caribou. Think how many that was. Couldn’t move for two weeks. Now one is lucky to see a herd of a couple hundred.

On my drive a few weeks ago from Seattle to Louisiana the only animals I saw was a single small group of mountain goats. No pronghorn, no deer, no elk. And that was a first. Just too many people.

I find it sadly humorous that city slickers think global warming is the big crisis when in reality their very existence is what is killing off the natural world. Sorry for the thread drift.

 

[JPmbogo]

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way. . . . . ."

Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities

 

[Hogpatrol]

Boomer here, the fifty & sixties were great, fast cars, high school dates, cold war hiding under our desks, kids with polio in iron lungs, smallpox vaccinations, the draft, buddies killed in Vietnam, the rise of the military industrial complex, nope, I'll take today anyday. For those that went for the 1800s or 1900s, horseshit in the streets, pandemics, world wars and don't forget you'd probably die before your 50th or 60th birthday, meaning you'd work until your were too sick or dead.

 

[Randy F]

I'd wanna be a cave man, before complex languages and stuff. Back to the simple times lol

Well than I’m living your dream right now. All I can get out of tired workers right now at harvest is a series of grunts and clicks.

Seriously though, I’d submit that the “best” era would vary a bit by region. For me the 70’s in Wisconsin was the ticket. Most lived on small family dairy farms and neighbors helped neighbors. Kids were only seen at chore time and mealtime, otherwise…see ya! Nobody had their face stuck in a screen. Life seemed, I don’t know, more simple…but then I was in my early teens so I was fortunate to have wonderful parents whose kids wouldn’t have a clue if they’re were struggles or not.
No social media. The only thing that might cancel you was the bull if you rolled under the fence in the wrong pasture on the way to a fishing hole.


By a bit of contrast, from the stories I heard in the area where I lived in South Dakota, the 50’s would have been a hit. Not an easy existence, but again, a kid barely knew the difference. It’s just the way things were. Work hard, play hard.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I am a lover of history so I have pondered this topic before.

The movie Jeremiah Johnson had a profound impact on my childhood, so the mountain man era certainly is of interest. I would also love to have seen many points in our country's history.

And what about future eras? I am a big SCI-FI fan, and would love to see what the future actually holds. Traveling in space for regular folk, or colonies on moons or planets? I'd jump on that in a heartbeat.

But really, like with my age and that question Kevin asked, I am where I am meant to be. I have some hereditary health issues that likely mean in a previous era I'd already be dead. I am happy enough in the here and now.

 

[Alistair]

There are many eras and places I'd like to experience. Rome in the 1st century, Baghdad in the 9th, Venice in the 15th, Paris in the 17th, Calcutta & Harare in the 19th, NY in the early 20th. All would be amazing things to witness in their own way.

But to live? Definitely now. The ease of travel, the quality of life and the mod-cons just can't be beat. As a relatively comfortable but not super-wealthy individual I can say I've visited most of the locations above, and 30 other countries besides. No one could have even imagined something like that even 100 years ago.

And I'll live for 80 odd years, have a decent chance of making a good career and having good health throughout. I probably won't get drafted and I'm unlikely to die of a simple wound or some horrible disease.

Sure, some of the adventure, romance and mystery has probably faded from the world with the increased ease of access, but of what's still there, I've got a better chance than any previous generation of seeing it for myself. I'm also cautiously optimistic that I might see the opening of an entirely new frontier with the advent of relatively affordable space tourism within my lifetime. What an adventure that'd be!

 

[curtism1234]

The past? No air conditioning, BO, constant green apple splatters, water than kill you, food that can kill you, employment that can kill you... No thanks, although hookers and gambling at every bar would be nice.

I'll take 1000 years into the future

 

[Hogpatrol]

These are the good old days.

 

[CEO]

Los Angeles or Hollywood from 1890 to 1940. It’s paradise lost now but was true paradise prior to WWII.

If we could bump that up a couple of years and track down a 24 year old Ava Gardner I would ride along with you

 

[Boyd Brooks]

I think the Jurassic era might have been an interesting time, dinosaurs and all. But every era had good and bad times. Turn of the century might have been nice, simple in some ways but hard with lack of medicine and creature comforts. Sounds like the fifties were awesome but, I missed them by a few years. I did however really enjoy the eighties. Finished school, job, money, wine, women and fast cars. But alas I do enjoy where I am today family grown up, beautiful wife and enjoying retirement. I think I will just stay in the here and now, not really that bad.