Many people dream about their ultimate vacation destinations. Cruising in the Bahamas. Skiing in the Alps. Paris in the spring.
Genealogists often daydream about more … unusual vacations. Bucket-list destinations include obscure ancestral hometowns and Salt Lake City (but not for the skiing). They love a cruise—as long as they can spend days at sea learning from a genealogy celebrity. And they’re more likely to opt for a day in an archive than a day on the beach.
We understand.
So do a special brand of people who love genealogy-themed travel so much, they’ve made it their jobs to help you enjoy it, too. We’ve rounded up tales and tips from three of them, with an emphasis on how to select a provider and plan an experience that will help you accomplish your travel-related goals.
Read on for inspiration for your next heritage holiday—or at least your daydreams. And start thinking about whether your next ancestral adventure may take you by land, by sea … or to the library.
BY LAND: Trips to the Ancestral Hometown
Kathy Wurth of Family Tree Tours <www.familytreetours.com> will always remember the first time she visited ancestral hometowns in Germany and France more than 40 years ago. “I was lucky enough to meet three generations of our family,” she says. “The older generation still remembered the last time an American cousin had visited France in 1931. [We had] lunch in the house where these three generations still lived, which was the birthplace of my great-grandfather.”
As she sat in the church where generations of her family worshipped, she thought of her great-grandfather. “Seeing the vista he must have looked at before leaving gave me the feeling that my great-grandfather was with me there and was
