When Outlander first started, we only knew that Claire could travel back in time. Eventually, she made it back to her own time, but then she went back again. It was clear that travel both ways was possible, and we did get to see people from the past head to the future.
So, which one is easier? I don’t mean in terms of physically traveling through the stones. We know that time travel is noisy, painful, and scary. Even the TV show has made it clear that time travel isn’t for the faint of heart. In this case, I’m speaking about ease for the person getting used to the world.
Buck fit in when he time traveled to the future in Outlander season 7
We got to see Buck travel from 1778 to 1980, and he seemed to fit in well. However, he did come across family while he was there, people who understood about time travel and what that would mean. He was able to get a few answers about time travel from Roger and Brianna, as they decided to take him in and help him figure out his new life since he didn’t seem ready to go back to the past.
With people around you who understand, it would be easy for anyone to fit in the past or the future. The benefit of Buck time traveling to the future is that his views could just be ruled as outdated. The way he thinks women should be and act would likely fit in with some communities, especially in the 1980s, so he wouldn’t have been too out of place.
Had he traveled to a time now, where it’s all about technology, then maybe he would have struggled a bit more. At least in 1980, there was still a lot of focus on farming and other skills that he would have known, making it easy to fit in.
At least the past you know what to expect in Outlander
There is a benefit to traveling to the past, though. We know what the past was like, even without living it. There are history books and TV shows to give us an idea of what to expect and how to act. That doesn’t mean we have to agree with it, but it would be a little easier to fit in.
The problem is a person has to code-switch and work hard to fit in. They know the phrases they should say, or they may know how to act. That doesn’t mean they’re going to definitely act that way. They can still end up coming across as someone weird, and the further you go back in the past, the more dangerous that is.
Look at how Claire was viewed as a witch because of her skills and her wording. Her dress made her come across as a spy, and even after the initial incident in the woods, she never really conformed fully with what was expected of her at the time. She was fortunate to end up with Jamie and the right people around her, but it could have been so much worse, as Otter Tooth found!
In the end, I can’t say which is easier. They both have their drawbacks in Outlander.
Stay up to date with the latest Outlander news with Claire and Jamie.