Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-5441128-20180807191057/@comment-131168-20180821182012

Yeah, safest-for-timeline is pretty dark. But getting involved with people, especially to the point of marriage and children, would spin out to all kinds of differences he wants to avoid.

Going to another franchise for a moment, in Star Trek First Contact when it's unclear they'll be able to return to the future, Picard gives orders to the crew on the ground to "find a quiet corner of North America and stay out of history's way". As one man, Mitchell would have a much better chance at pulling this off than they would've in that movie.