Aliens arriving on Earth would have a wide variety of travel plans waiting for them depending on which one of your houses they happened upon. A few common themes seemed to be beaches, Thailand, and family, in the difficult process of introducing humanity within 48 hours. As abstract as the question may be, it could also be easily applied to people who’ve never traveled or wanted to, bringing this discussion back down to Earth.

• Amy: “A few days in Bangkok for good street food and shopping then we will head south for R&R by the beach. After that, we will hop on the plane to the north for some mountain scene in Chiang Mai.”

• Mark H: “See a sunrise over a sun-drenched beach eating a tropical fruit breakfast, walk through a park or forest to see the trees (hopefully some mountain scenery to see in the distance) and feel the grass between their toes, walk the main street of a large historic city to get some sense of our changes through the ages. On the other day, I’d get them to experience a “normal” day in the life of someone (but should that person be a farmer, office worker, teacher or what?) – to see what modern life is on Earth.”

• Sabine: “I would simply invite them to stay at my house [in Hamburg, Germany] for the 48h. They could join me by “living my life”: going to work, going out with friends, visiting my family, doing exercises etc.”

• Sherry Ott: “I think I would have them go visit my parents in the plains of South Dakota…that may scare them away!”

• Alina Popescu: “Well, take them for a quick tour and meal in Bucharest, then fly them over to Istanbul. One hour flight to get a glimpse of two continents and catch a Mediterranean sunset.”

• Jaime D.: “I would take them back to where is ALL started Roswell.”

• Ali: “I would take them to see Australia. Beautiful white sand beaches! And maybe a quick trip to Thailand. I love the food!”

• Gourmantic: “I would do a series of mind melds with them to swap travel experiences. This way, they’d see what I’ve seen and I’d get their interpretation of it.”

There are more comments still on where to take our alien friends and the variety of ideas are an insight into humanity in and of itself. Personally, I’d take them for a few hours to several cities and rural spots on each inhabited continent to meet and see mothers with their children. This, I believe would show them our (human) differences but the overwhelming similarities we share – and often neglect ourselves. I also think a trip to the Amazon rain forest would be appropriate; again to demonstrate our planets immense strengths and at the same time our weaknesses as well.

[photo by: liber (alien smoking pipe), Adri_Gz (South Dakota plains)]

Supposing little green (or gray) aliens decided to come to your house – not to abduct you – but to find out what to do on during their Earth vacation. It turns out their intergalactic boss only gave them 48 hours of leave on their way to star Wolf 359. They’ve got access to transporters and distance isn’t an issue, they can be anywhere they want in minutes and will take you with them.

What would you recommend an alien see or do to get a feel for Earth and humanity within 48 hours?

The Earth is a big place and human beings are complex; not to mention we’re not the only species on the planet. How do you introduce us, collectively, to those who would know nothing about us. Would you go to iconic touristic places like the Taj Mahal or perhaps around New York City? Also don’t forget about the food – our extraterrestrial friends like to eat.

I’d love to hear how you’d conduct your intergalactic tour in such a short time frame – and would appreciate your comments below. I’ll round up some of the most creative and share them with you in a week or two.

[photo by: massdistraction (ET toy)]