Last year to feel like another world?

2019 might seem like a totally different world from today if you didn't live your life consumed by fear then and have since started to. Plexiglass and face coverings definitely add a dystopian flavor to the early 2020's, but that's not to say there aren't plenty of situations or places you could still be in where things might seem nearly identical to a few years ago. To really not achieve that, one would likely need to get back into the 2000's. I'd imagine that before 2005 or so things would start to feel odd due to what is missing. It's not even just what people and places look like or what technology they don't have, but what they talk like and their mannerisms and vibe overall. How it all holistically affected them. In the first half of the 2000's people still talked to each other, they had to, and were generally still more limited by what was right in front of them. For better or worse; people might be more friendly to you but they might be less accepting. They might be okay with more mystery, you might feel less secure. Even not being able to just take an instantaneous digital photo might make them more likely to savor life in the moment. If instead one were to go back to 2019, they wouldn't have to worry that maybe their grandparents didn't want their hug, bare having the same cashier for months without ever seeing their smile, let out a mild cough and be looked at like a public enemy. These things might seem like a vacation even, but they were built upon an already largely mentally unwell public that was getting ready to crack. A trip back in time two to three years ago would merely seem eerie, like a calm before the storm, but not like stepping into an entirely different public.