SydneySteve

My ancestors migrated from the Flanders area to London around the time of the reign of William of Orange. During our forthcoming trip we have decided to visit the area round Stepney, the Guild Hall and a few churches around the east end of London like St Botolphs where great great grandparents visited for the three main events of life. In addition we are spending time in Brugge close to the area where the first known of our Family tree came from. I wouldnt like Genealogy to dominate my travel plans, but I view the excercise as another great adventurous reason to travel.

ira

Unfortunately, except for my mother, all of my ancestors have passed on.

Now, if I could get my kids to visit their ancestor....

corbow

We have visited some of the areas where my ancestors lived in the US, and it's part of a trip I really enjoy--a form of people-watching, if you will. Seeing the places inspires my imagination to think about how they lived, why they migrated, etc.

We're currently planning a trip to Ireland with a side trip to Wales to see my husband's ancestral grounds in Anglesey. We both have ancestry in Ireland as well but haven't found the particulars yet, so the Ireland portion of the trip will be a non-genealogy vacation unless I make a breakthrough in the next 6 weeks!

Presocia

I've booked a trip to Sicily next May for two weeks. My primary interest in going there is to connect in some way with my ancestoral roots in Villarosa, Enna province. I've started doing a bit of geneological research, but even if I don't get very far, I want the perspective of having been where they came from, and where extended branches of the family still are.

harzer

I spent a week once going into Poland to the city of Poznan where my ancestors migrated from in 1848.

Unfortunately, my ancestors were from a German-speaking minority there; and Poznan was heavily bombarded by German troops during the last war. I detected a strong anti-German sentiment in the town as a result, and got the distinct impression that all traces of German culture from the past had been eradicated.

The upshot was that I could find nothing in the local museum or City Hall that gave me any sort of a clue about my great-great-grandparents.

Harzer

artstuff

We're in the process of planning our next trip to Germany where we want to visit the tiny town of Oberowisheim, 30 miles southeast of Heidelberg, 30 miles northeast of Karlsruhe, between Bruchsal and Heilbronn.

It is here that my 7th-great grandfather and grandmother lived (just 2 of 512 7th great grandparents!), both born c.1660. In 1751 my 5th-great grandparents left Oberowisheim, sailing up (or is it down) the Rhine to Rotterdam where they took the ship Neptune to Philadelphia to start a new life in Pennsylvania.

I look forward to our future travel to Oberowisheim, even if I just go there, walk around the town, breathe in the air and feel the spirits around me.

I'll sign off now with an old Pennsylvania Dutch powwow chant that my mother use to use on me -
"Heila, heila, hinkel-dreck. Bis marya frie iss olles veck." Peace.

Robyn

mkdiebold

Last year my husband and 2 of our 3 sons, were fortunate enough to visit German relatives on both sides of the family. We were very pleasantly surprised to discover that our two families lived only 50 km (Black Forest) away from each other. Evidently each family immigrated about the same time. Each family came for economic reasons. Each landed in New Orleans and traveled up the Mississipi and Ohio Rivers, eventually making Louisville, Kentucky their homes. It was really cool seeing the Church records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths of relatives dating back to 1692. I would encourage everyone to seek the same experience!

kismetchimera

The only ancestor that live in the USA is me....
Everytime I go back to Europe I try to go back to the places where I used to run.
It does wonder to my Soul.

tmh

Going 'home' as my Irish great aunt and cousins said, added a whole new dimension to the trip.

I've also found relatives on the German side and have had wonderful times understanding their culture and why my dad was the way he was.

SydneySteve

For those wishing to do a little research about the family name I can recommend http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Sear...set_search.asp. When I searched our Family name without inserting any other detail, it became evident that I needed to look in Stepney - London, Cornwall and Devon and on the coastal border between the Netherlands and Belgium.

Georgine

We were fortunate to have visited the children, along with their families,of my grandmother's brother in Eastern Slovakia.

Our first trip was without benefit of a translator, and the time was not as well spent as it would have been had we hired one.

Our second visit was for the wedding of my great uncle's grandchild. This time we hired a translator for the three day celebration (A typical "village" wedding, as the "city folk" in Slovakia refer to these events.)

What a wonderful experience!!! The customs are unique. None stop drinking, dancing, laughing and eating for three days ( Day before the wedding for preparation, day of the wedding for 19 straight hours, and day after the wedding to eat and drink "the leftovers" and to talk about the day before.)

What an appreciation we have now for the things we take for granted---good paying jobs, cars in the driveway, freedom to go when and where we want anywhere in the world, oppurtunities for a good education and top quality medical care.

However, they still have the things our society lost site of-an honest sense of caring and sharing for their neighbors;taking great joy in simple pleasures;eating only those things they can grow,raise in the back yard, or barter for within the village.

To have seen the house my great grandfather built (which is still lived in today by my relatives), walked the same road he walked, prayed in the same church (which was built in 1432), and to stand at his and my great grandmother's grave site and to hear stories about their lives (which have been handed down through the generations) made me understand more of "where I came from".

My soul have been deeply touched by these experiences.

If anyone has need of a translator or researcher in Slovakia, just e-mail me.

Ours currently lives in Bratislava, but he and his family have roots and family in the Eastern part of the country.

Kristinelaine

To Georgine: We lived in Bratislava three years ago for a year and very much appreciated the Slovak people and the country. I am glad you had this wonderful opportunity to go "home".

To SydneySteve: Yes, I have visited ancestors' homes in Pomerania (then Prussia, now Poland), Germany (north of Frankfurt), and the Netherlands. In two cases we were able to meet family members (VERY interesting!) and in Poland we used a translator (invaluable) and found the exact spot my great-grandparents lived before immigrating to the USA in 1868.

Then when we lived in Slovakia (see above) we found the ancestral home (in eastern Slovakia) of a friend of ours back in the states.

These are all wonderful experiences, never to be forgotten.

shandy

When I was in England I once visited the village that my mother's family immigrated from several generations ago. I vaguely knew that they were the "lord of the manor" sort and had quite a bit of money (long since dissipated unfortunately) but when I got there I found the village church had been built by them, it had dozens of plaques commemorating them and found a number of their graves. A local asked me why I was visiting the village (it's not on the tourist route) and when I explained she told me that when my ancestors migrated, they left behind money to be handed out as a Trust for the poor. Some 150 years later this Trust still exists although nowdays it means that everyone is given a plum pudding at Christmas as there is hardly any money left. Its this sort of experience that makes travelling worthwhile - mind you I would travel for any reason!

SydneySteve

After registering our Family name on a free genealogy website I received contact at my email address recently from a young man of the same name and our name is fairly uncommon. I now have a good reason to visit Cornwall. After many generations, it has been frequently suggested that, together with close relations, there are very strong Dutch physical characteristics. Apparantly my Dutch ancestors sailed west in a convoy in the 17thC and the Family settled around Exeter and Listhwithel before traveling on to London. The big question that is still unresolved is as to why we settled around Stepney Green and Mile End. We may find out in September when we visit.