In the Footsteps of Your Ancestors

In the Footsteps of Your Ancestors


While many choose their vacation destinations in the midst of sunshine, scenery, and beaches, a new type of tourism is booming.

Tracing genealogical roots on vacation, or genealogy tourism, is growing in popularity, as increasing numbers of people are becoming attracted by the idea of travelling to where their ancestors lived and died. Each year, thousands of individuals follow in the footsteps of their ancestors in this way, and many are ready to cross the world to do so.

Visiting these locations can be practically useful for a number of reasons: you can gather information, get physical access to documents, see the places where your family lived, and visit the kind of environs and workplaces they may have inhabited. It can really bring the past to life in a way that the documents on their own cannot.

For many, the experience also offers the opportunity to actually meet distant relatives, previously only known via the Internet. It can be a fantastic moment, and a way to create new friendships and bonds between your family’s branches.

This could be food for thought if you’re stuck for ideas this summer!

Comments

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  • Sharon Hodgden

    July 15, 2010

    I went to England last fall to trace my ancestors footsteps. Found their graves, planted daffodils, attended the church they did, rang the bell, etc. My husband and I had a wonderful time. We plan on doing this again. We recommend visiting family sites if you are interested in family history, it can be a big help!

  • Junior Abbott

    July 22, 2010

    This is all fine and good if you have good health and plenty of money.
    I am 62 years old and disabled plus poor ,i would like to visit my fathers birth place in Mississippi,U.S.A. his mother is buried there.
    I live in Alabama,U.S.A..

  • online website design

    July 23, 2010

    @Sharon Hodgden
    I have a program to do the same as well. It might be pleasure for me to do so. Because so long ago I’ve never been to my went ancestors.

  • Julia V

    July 28, 2010

    I recently found that much of my father’s family comes from a small part of Germany. I feel so drawn to a visit that surely I will plan to go in the next 2-3 years once time and money allow it. My biggest fear is that I’ll cry when I get to the church where they were married or the cemetery!!