Why I Won't Use Time Travel

I'm VERY picky about how I like time travel in whatever entertainment I consume. I've realized it all comes down to how it's used.

Time travel presented as a problem: YES!

Time travel presented as the goal or solution: NO!

I like time travel as a story element when it's used as an obstacle in the story. Some good examples of this is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. The stones present time travel in an element that is unexpected and uncontrolled. There are hard rules that pose issues for getting back through the stones as well as keeping the characters from abusing the power.

Another good example is The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. While the rules are less defined and slightly less rigid, the apartment is just as uncontrollable to the characters as the stones. The slip between the two times presents problems that need to be overcome, not solutions to problems that already exist.

As soon as time travel as a story element is presented as the solution to a problem, it loses all credibiltiy for me. An example of this: Avenger's End Game. Suddenly, the mysteries of time travel are unraveled, making the solution too easy. The rules are too loose, and characters abuse the power, creating messes with alternate timelines. It rarely seems like the characters have exhausted all other options when their solution is now time travel. It just gets messy.

I will note that I understand there is a whole group of people out there that enjoy the mess created by alternate timelines. For a big universe, it also allows for a sort of "re-boot" (that's what I'm calling it) that allows creators to keep the older versions as cannon while exploring new paths. I can understand and appreciate, but it's not something I enjoy.

There is an inbetween example too. The movie The Time Machine stradels that line for me as time travel is both the goal and the protagonist's obstcle. The things I like are that the scientist doesn't truly have control over changing time. He can go back and forth in his machine, but he can't change what has already happened. I also like that destroying the machine is the solution at the end. Things I don't like are the ease of which he unravels secrets of the universe. Also, again, have all options really been explored? To solve all the protagonist's problems he chooses time travel as opposed to, I don't know, therapy?

Because I am so pickey about how it's used, I don't forsee it being an element I will ever employ in my own writing. I like the idea of natural phenomena sending someone back in time, but in my fantasy world, it would be expressly illegal. Accident or not. Mostly, I would prefer it to be something no one understands.

Don't expect my characters to be traveling back in time.