If you could have one superpower, what would it be? The Washington Post asked this question in a fun reader poll recently, and top answers, unsurprisingly, had to do with travel. In first place, with 46% of the vote, was time-travel, and coming in at second place with 31% of the vote was teleportation. The other options were flight (surprisingly, only 12%), super-strength, and x-ray vision.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member writeonthespot.

First, kudos to The Washington Post for providing some light relief to the endless election polls. For some reason (maybe it’s the company I keep), I’ve been in a few recent conversations about this very issue of choosing a superpower. A friend of mine wishes she had a peace gun, for example. Her goal would be to go around the world shooting peace into all mean people and warring factions. On the other end of the spectrum is my friend who wants as his superpower the ability to deep-fry anything in his sight at will. Yes, if he could have just ONE superpower, that’s what he’d want.

Personally, I think I’d have to go for the whole teleportation thing. How great would it be to skip altogether the hassles of airports and security, traffic and long lines? Even better, skipping all the costs? Time-travel would have its merits, too (I could go back to when I was six and prevent myself from wearing my “Michael Jackson glove” in public, for example), but I’d always be worried about entering into some paradox of the space-time continuum, a la Marty McFly in Back to the Future.

As for other travel-related superpowers that weren’t in the poll, I’m thinking the following five might also come in handy:
1. The power to understand and speak any language in the world.
2. The power to exchange money into any kind of currency.
3. The power to eat and eat (particularly Italian pizzas) and never gain any weight.
4. The power to navigate anywhere without a map and never get lost.
5. The power to sleep soundly in any condition, including on planes and at loud hotels.

What travel-related superpowers do you wish for? And if you could time-travel, where/when would you most want to go?