To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Time Travel
In this lesson we will be talking about Time Travel in English, and looking at the 2nd Conditional.
“Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one!”
— Doc Brown, Back to the Future
If you’re a fan of the Back to the Future Trilogy, you will know that when Marty McFly and Doc Brown go to the future, they go to October 21st, 2015! The future has arrived!! The future is now!
The movie was set in 1985, and they travelled 30 years into the future, to find all sorts of futuristic inventions, both in technology and fashion, including flying cars, wearable technology, and flat screen TVs where you could have video conference calls — and probably English classes via Skype!!!
Time travel is something that fascinates almost everyone, and everyone surely wonders, from time to time, what life will be like 500 years from now, and what life was like when our grandparents were growing up, or in the Middle Ages.
Before we get started, here is a list of vocabulary that will help you talk about time travel with your native English-speaking teacher in your conversation classes via Skype.
Vocabulary about Time Travel in English
English vocabulary related to Time Travel
- Breakthrough
- Century
- Decade
- Era
- Go back in time
- Paradox
- Prediction
- Prehistoric times
- Sea level
- Time machine
- To time travel
Grammar to use in your online English conversation class
The 2nd conditional is used to talk about completely hypothetical things in the future, and has the following structure:
if + past simple | would
Examples:
- If I could time travel, I would go to the year 2300.
(Is time travel possible? No! So it’s a hypothetical situation). - I would visit the Middle Ages if I had a time machine.
(We can change the order, no problem. But if must always be accompanied by the past simple) - If I could go back in time, I would buy last week’s lottery ticket and quit my job.
Useful verb forms:
- Fly — flew — flown
- Rise — rose — risen
Common mistakes:
X In that time
√ In those days
X The century 14
√ The 14th Century
Common pronunciation problems:
- era /’ɪərə/
- decade /‘dekeɪd/
If you could time travel, which era would you visit?
Questions we will discuss in your online English conversation class:
- If time travel were possible, which period of world history would you like to return to? Why?
- How far into the future would you like to travel? What do you hope to see?
- Do you think there will be a common language in the future? Why? Which language will it be?
- On your journey through time, you can take five objects with you to show people what life is like in the 21st century. What five objects would you take? Why?
- Are you optimistic or pessimistic about your future? How about the world’s future?
- One day, our grandchildren will look back at what we did to the world. What parts of our history do you think they will admire?
- What parts of our history will they look down on?
- What major advancements would your grandparents never have imagined were possible when they were children?
- What major advancements do you think the human race will achieve this century?
- What would you do if you had a telephone that could make phone calls into the past?
- Which historical figure would you most like to meet? Why?
- What would you ask them?
- How would you spend the time with them?
- If you went back to prehistoric times, what do you think you could teach humans of that time?
- Have you seen any movies about travelling into the future? What happened? Were they believable?
Practice reading and listening before speaking with your native English-speaking teacher:
This article looks back on some of the predictions made by Back to the Future, and says whether they were “hits” or “misses” — whether they were right or wrong!
“In the cult film Back to the Future 2, Doc Brown and Marty McFly land in 2015, a futuristic land of flying cars and hovercrafts. As the New Year dawns, which of their predictions were hits — and misses?” Read more…
This short video also looks into some of the futuristic technological advances predicted on Back to the Future II:
Do listening exercise on this video!
Speaking practice:
Now book your online English conversation class with one of our native English-speaking teachers to put into practice what you’ve learned in this lesson.
Book a class
Only by doing this will you improve the most important communication skill in English: speaking!
Not an OLA student yet? Sign up for your FREE trial class now!
GET FREE LESSONS
See our other lessons, and improve your grammar and vocabulary with our well-thought out lesson plans to ensure you learn how to speak real English!
Like this lesson? Please share it via social media…
Book Your FREE Class Now!
Gregory Stephen Pioli
Owner of OLA Online Language Academy
★Degree in French (University of Kent at Canterbury)
★DELE Superior (Spanish) (Instituto Cervantes, Leeds)
★TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) (i-to-i.com)
Other students also read:
This free ESL lesson plan on time travel has been designed for adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student.
If you could travel back in time, you would have to be careful not to change anything as to affect the future. One or two winning lottery tickets is enough; winning the lottery every single week, and people would surely start to suspect that something was off. But perhaps changing the past doesn’t change your future but create a new one. Or maybe history always included your future self travelling back in time to make the changes that would create the present, and there was no way to avoid this. Another possibility is that you go back in time, and any changes you make are automatically corrected by the Universe to preserve a future that already exists. Do these outcomes mean that future, fate, and destiny are predetermined? In this ESL lesson plan on time travel, students will have the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions on issues such as which periods from history they would like to see, the science of time travel, and whether the future is predetermined.
This lesson plan could also be used with your students to debate these issues for Pretend To Be A Time Traveller Day, which takes place in December. For more lesson plans on international days and important holidays, see the calendar of world days to plan your classes for these special occasions.
For advice on how to use this English lesson plan and other lesson plans on this site, see the guide for ESL teachers.
PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES
Reading activity
Before the English class, send the following article to the students and ask them to read it while making a list of any new vocabulary or phrases they find (explain any the students don’t understand in the class):
CBR | 10 Sci-Fi Movies Where Time Travel Actually Makes Sense
The article contains a list of time travel movies that portray time travel logically, including 12 Monkeys, Planet of the Apes, and Back to the Future. At the start of the class, hold a brief discussion about what the students thought about the article. What do they think about the issues raised in the article? Do they agree with what was said? Can they think of any ways they might disagree with the content of the article?
Video activity
To save time in class for the conversation activities, the English teacher can ask the students to watch the video below and answer the listening questions in Section 3 of the lesson plan at home. The questions for the video are styled in a way similar to an exam like the IELTS.
The video for this class is called “Is Time Travel Possible?” by Science Time which looks at some of the physics theories that could allow for time travel to happen.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
The focus in the class is on conversation in order to help improve students’ fluency and confidence when speaking in English as well as boosting their vocabulary.
This lesson opens with a short discussion about the article the students read before the class. Next, the students can give their opinion on the quote at the beginning of the lesson plan – what they think the quote means and if they agree with it. This is followed by an initial discussion on the topic including which historical figures the students would like to meet, which past events should be changed, and what they would tell their past selves.
After this, students will learn some vocabulary connected with time travel such as time machine, alternate timeline and time loop. This vocabulary has been chosen to boost the students’ knowledge of less common vocabulary that could be useful for preparing for English exams like IELTS or TOEFL. The vocabulary is accompanied by a cloze activity and a speaking activity to test the students’ comprehension of these words.
If the students didn’t watch the video before the class, they can watch it after the vocabulary section and answer the listening questions. Before checking the answers, ask the students to give a brief summary of the video and what they thought about the content.
Finally, there is a more in-depth conversation about time travel. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as what they would like to see in the future, whether they would like to know their own future, and how people predict the future today.
HOMEWORK
After the class, students will write about what they would do if they had a time machine. This could be a short paragraph or a longer piece of writing depending on what level the student is at. The writing activity is designed to allow students to practise and improve their grammar with the feedback from their teacher. For students who intend to take an international English exam such as IELTS or TOEFL, there is an alternative essay question to practise their essay-writing skills.
Travelling the world is a dream for many, myself included. I quit my job in 2012 to travel and have been living out of a suitcase ever since. A countless number of adventures and an immeasurable number of conversations later, I think back on all the questions I’ve been asked through it all by fellow travellers I have met along the way as well as friends back home. Find a collection of these travel questions in this post. Answer as many as of these questions about traveling as you can and use them as conversation starters the next time you find yourself on an adventure of your own.
If you’d like to know my personal answer to any of these questions,
feel free to contact me or start a conversation of our own on insta. Enjoy!
Whether you find yourself waiting at the airport, on an overnight journey by bus or train, or simply hanging with new found friends while abroad, these questions make for some perfect conversation starters and are sure to get the good vibes flowing.
I’ve split this into sections to make it easier to read. You will find a list of fun travel questions, interesting and enticing questions about travelling as well as some random would you rather questions. Maybe you’re looking for some travel trivia or an engaging travel question for Instagram
— find it all ⬇⬇
Be sure to save this post or bookmark it to easily find it during your next journey. Let’s get into it….
✓ FUN TRAVEL QUESTIONS
What to ask people who travel?
Find a list of fun questions about traveling that are bound to keep the conversation flowing from beginning to end!
- You win the lottery tomorrow. Where are you travelling to first?
- What is your favourite aspect about traveling?
- What is the weirdest food you’ve ever tried while traveling?
- What are sure signs of being a travel addict?
- Are you a city traveller or nature explorer?
- Have you ever hitchhiked? If not, would you ever consider doing it?
- Are you a member of the mile high club?
- Have you ever been on a cruise?
- Choose one famous person or celebrity to travel with?
- Have you ever flown first class?
- How many countries have you been to?
- What is your favourite city?
- Where you would you rather be right this moment?
- Do you prefer a window seat or aisle seat on a plane?
- What is the most exotic food you’ve tasted?
- Where is the weirdest place you’ve slept during your travels?
- Would you rather go on a safari, have a city break, or visit a tropical island?
- Have you ever been camping while abroad?
- What is your favorite travel song?
- How many of the 7 wonders of the world have you seen?
- What is the best and worst thing about travelling to a new country?
- Beach or mountains?
- What is your most valuable travel possession?
- Have you fallen in love while travelling?
- What is your favourite vacation song about summer and the beach?
- What movie and/or has inspired a previous trip of yours?
- What’s a funny or strange travel story of yours?
- Have you ever been on a safari?
- What is your drink of choice on a plane?
- What is you go to remedy for jet-lag?
- What is the favorite stamp in your passport?
- Do you have any embarrassing travel stories?
- What is the most adventurous thing you’ve done during your travels?
- What characteristics make for a cool travel partner?
- Have you ever been snorkelling? If so, where?
- What is the best gift to give to a traveller?
- Describe a dream travel experience?
Check out this list of the:
10 best cheap tropical islands to visit around the world
✓ OPEN-ENDED TRAVEL QUESTIONS
I am a huge fan of not just fun travel questions to ask, but also deep and open ended questions that are often accompanied with some insightful responses and interesting debates.
What are some questions about travel?
- How does travel and seeing the world inspire you?
- How many countries do you want to discover in your life?
- How often do you travel? How many days in a month/weeks in a year are you away from home?
- Where do you feel most at home?
- What has been your biggest adventure so far?
- Why do you travel?
- What is the most exotic destination you’ve been to?
- What are some of the lessons that travel has taught you?
- What has been your worst trip or worst travel experience?
- What can you not travel without?
- Where is the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?
- Have you ever made any of these mistakes while flying?
- How do you feel on your return home?
- What travel experiences are at the top of of your bucket list?
- When you’re not on the open road, what is the thing you miss most about travelling?
- Are there more advantages to travelling alone or with others?
- What is your best travel tip?
- What has been your biggest travel mistake?
- What cities would you love to discover?
- What is the best airport for a long layover?
- When you’re away, what do you miss most about home?
- Who do you usually travel with?
- What is the difference between a tourist and a traveller?
- Do you think its safe to travel during the covid-19 pandemic?
- Did you have any bad travel experiences?
- What has been the most stressful part about travel for you?
- If you could choose one place to live anywhere in the world, where would you most like to live?
- What is your main concern when travelling?
- Do you have a favourite airline?
- What is the scariest thing that has happened to you while traveling?
- When do you feel the most alive?
- Do you travel with a fixed plan or usually just wing it?
- What’s been the biggest struggle you’ve experienced about travel?
- What is your favorite childhood travel memory?
- How has corona covid-19 affected your traveling lifestyle?
- Do you think countries closing their borders was a good move?
- How do you feel about a travel pass?
The important of travel and exploring the world cannot be stressed enough.
Here are the 10 key advantages of travelling
Keep reading for more ideas + fun traveling questions to ask …
✓ ENGAGING QUESTIONS ON TRAVEL
How do you talk about travelling?
In developing a conversation, few things compare to getting into the head of the other person. Here are a number of thought-provoking questions on travel to get to know someone a little better.
- What do you think is the main benefit of travel?
- What does the concept of home mean to you?
- Is it the journey or the destination that’s most important to you?
- What motivates you to travel?
- What is the biggest barrier to long term travel?
- What about traveling do you enjoy the least?
- What is the very first place you’ve visited?
- What has been your best trip?
- Have you ever gotten really lost while abroad?
- What are some things you always take with you on a trip?
- What characteristics and traits are essential for being a traveler?
- What is your preferred means of transport when traveling?
- Do you have any destinations that you would not like to visit?
- What is the most beautiful city you’ve visited?
- Do you learn a few phrases of the local language before visiting a new country?
- Which country has the best food?
- What is your earliest travel memory of being on vacation?
- Do you make friends easily while on the road?
- What are some of the disadvantages of long term travel?
- Are you a fan of trying out local foods?
- How do you choose where to travel to?
- Which places hold a special place in your heart?
- What’s the best travel advice you’ve received?
- What is your travel style? Relaxing beach island vacation or city-to-city explorations?
- What are your thoughts on ecotourism and being a responsible tourist?
- What is the worst injury you’ve gotten while traveling?
- Which island would you love to visit with your family?
- What would surprise people the most about long term travel?
- Are you enticed by the life of a digital nomad?
Care about how many countries you’ve been to?
Here’s why you should stop counting
✓ INTERESTING TRAVEL QUESTIONS TO ASK
It’s bound to be an interesting and enlightening talk with these deep thinking questions for a travelling companion.
How do you ask travel questions?
- How has travel changed you throughout the years?
- What is your favourite part about travel?
- Where did you travel to internationally for the first time?
- If you could travel to anytime in the past, where would you go?
- Where would you love to explore next?
- Where was the last place you’ve been to?
- What is the longest you’ve been away from home for?
- What is the longest flight you’ve taken?
- Do you plan and book your holidays yourself or do you get it done through a travel agency or third party agent?
- Have you ever lived in another country for an extended period of time? If so, where?
- What travel advice would you give to someone traveling internationally for the first time?
- What is the most trouble you’ve been in while traveling?
- Have you ever gotten scammed while in another country?
- Do you prefer to travel solo or as part of a group?
- Where would you like to go on vacation to?
- Where is the best place you have hiked in?
- Where do you prefer to stay? Hotel/hostel/apartment/couchsurfing?
- Have you explored a lot of your home country?
- What do you think is the biggest advantage of solo travel?
- Who is the most interesting person you’ve met during your travels?
- Have you ever missed a flight?
- Are you a member of any frequent flyer programs?
- Which place would you not visit again?
- If you speak more than one language, which language is the easiest and hardest to learn?
- What is your favorite museum?
- What is a typical meal like from your country?
- What travel apps you you use most often?
- How many passports have you gone through?
- What home food do you miss most when travelling abroad?
- Are there any aspects of a foreign culture that you will never get use to?
Speaking of a foreign culture.. Here are:
the most strange and exotic foods eaten across the world
✓ TRAVEL QUESTIONS FOR INSTAGRAM
Travel and exploring the world is my favorite past-time. But you already knew that, right? Here are travel questions to ask to get you talking about past vacations, favorite destinations, future travel aspirations, and bucket list places.
What to caption a travel photo?
- Where is the most amazing place you’ve encountered during your travels?
- Do you prefer to travel to famous and popular destinations or off the beaten track spots?
- How many photos are saved on your hard-drive in total?
- What is your favourite foreign cuisine?
- What is your favorite word for travel?
- What inspires you to travel?
- Do you usually bring back souvenirs for your trip?
- What travel quote do you live by?
- What country (or countries) would you like to visit the most?
- How many days until your next vacation?
- What place should everyone see at least once in their lifetime?
- Are there any popular places or destinations you’d like to avoid?
- What is the best place to visit in your own country?
- What are your favourite countries?
- Do you prefer novel stimulating experiences or a chilled out relaxed vacation?
- Do you keep a journal to document all your experiences exploring the world?
- What was the most recent road trip you took?
- What is your best-loved national park?
- What is your favourite tropical island?
- What is your favourite city for a weekend break?
- What is the most money you’ve spent on a plane ticket? Where’d you go?
- What is your favorite foreign dessert?
- Where was your first vacation with your family?
- What is your most prized travel possession?
- Which city has the best street food?
- What one place do you have to visit before you die?
- Are you planning on travelling again soon in a post pandemic world?
- Which country has the most beautiful flag?
- How does travel bring meaning to your life?
I’ve had a lot of misadventures and crazy travel experiences over the years.
Here are a couple of my misadventures
✓ WOULD YOU RATHER QUESTIONS ABOUT TRAVELLING
A simple format of intriguing and fun questions for traveling. Present these to your fellow travelers with these odd, funny, and interesting scenarios to get into some great conversations.
- Would you rather lose all your travel photos or all of your money?
- Would you rather travel back in time and meet your ancestors or forward in time to meet your descendants?
- Would you rather travel the world by plane, train, or ship?
- Would you rather see a lot of countries for a little bit or get to know one in-depth?
- Would you rather explore the deepest part of the ocean or outer space?
- Would you rather upgrade your flight to first class or your hotel room to the penthouse suite?
- Would you rather go hiking, visit museums, or to the beach?
- Would you rather be the last person left on earth, or be one of the first people on Mars but you’ll never come back home?
- Would you rather swim with dolphins or go shark cage diving?
- Would you rather be able to pause, rewind, or fast forward time?
- Would you rather only speak English or speak every language in the world except for English?
- Would you rather travel the whole world but never finding love or finding your soulmate but never being able to travel?
- Would you rather be able to speak all languages or be able to talk to animals?
- Would you rather explore the dessert heat of the Sahara or the icy landscape of Antarctica?
- Would you rather have the super power of teleportation or flying?
- Would you rather have a summer beach vacation or a winter mountain trip?
- Would you rather discover the jungle on an African safari or the sea on a cruise?
- Would you rather sleep in a room in a haunted hotel or filled with snakes?
- Would you rather walk the entire Great Wall of China or climb Mount Kilimanjaro?
- Would you rather live the life of a king alone or live like a nomad with your friends and family?
- Would you rather watch the rising sun or the setting sun?
- Would you rather go on lots of small trips or one long trip?
- Would you rather be able to tell your past self one thing or be able to ask your future self one question?
I hope you’ve appreciated this complete set of travel questions. I’ve included more than enough vacation questions to fuel those conversations with a traveler or while discovering the world.
What are some of your favorites? And did any of these reveal some insights or breakthroughs?
Happy travelling!
Rai
Free discussion worksheets with pictures to describe on the topic of travel. Difficult words on this first printable include – pack, prefer, cruise, destination, thoroughly, gotten, accommodation, backpacking, international, furthest, and distance.
The travel conversation questions on worksheet 1 are –
When was the last time you travelled? Where did you go?
What is your favourite thing about travelling?
Where would you like to travel to next? When do you think you will go there?
How long can you travel before you start to miss home?
What are the most important things to pack before you go travelling?
What kinds of transport do you prefer to travel by?
Are there any places in your country that you never want to travel to? Why not?
Who in your family is the best person to travel with?
Have you ever been on a cruise ship? Would you like to take a cruise?
What kinds of activities do you like to do when you are travelling?
Have you ever learnt or tried to speak another language while travelling?
What are the top travel destinations in your country? Have you been to them?
How do you usually decide on a travel destination?
Do you like to plan your travel thoroughly or just make it up as you go along?
What do you think of backpacking? Would you like to try it?
Have you ever gotten lost on your travels? What did you do?
What kind of accommodation do you usually stay in when you take trips?
What is the best way to keep your money safe you go travelling?
Have you ever felt scared or been in danger on your travels?
How has Covid-19 changed travel in your country and internationally?
Where is it your dream to visit? Do you think you will ever get there?
What is the furthest distance you have ever been from your home?
Do you prefer to travel alone, with friends, or with family?
What is the first thing you do when you arrive in a new city?