You have all been indulging my story telling these past few weeks, and for that I thank you. It’s not the time for us to book that vacation just yet, but it’s never too early to dream of that next destination. The one that has been in the back of your mind for years. Beginning this week, I’ll share some of my favorite stories from our travelers through the years. Perhaps it will stoke an interest with you as well and prompt you to dig a little deeper into a destination you’ve been considering. Goodness knows, we’re all going to need a vacation once all of this is over. Until we can wander, we will continue to wonder about that next trip.
This week I wanted to share snippets from three different travelers, each of which had traced their family tree long before the technology of today.
The times they traced their roots….
Ireland…
Several years ago I had the pleasure of planning a trip to Ireland, long known as one of my favorite destinations. Two sisters came into the office and we started to plan their route. They wanted to visit several towns, one of which was the one their mother had lived in before she came to the States, as a child. The town was quite small, but since they wanted to experience Ireland as authentically as possible, they were utilizing the fantastic network of B&B’s available. There were several in town and we chose the one who’s proprietor had grown up in the village and been operating the longest. The sisters had a photograph of the house their mother had lived in. Many locales in Ireland use only house names as identifiers, not street names and even less likely house numbers. Upon arrival at the B&B they showed the photograph to the gentleman and his wife, asking if they knew anything about the house. He quickly replied “I know this house!” He then took them over to a window in the breakfast room and pointed to it! Their Great Grandfather’s house, where their mother lived until she came to America, was just 200 yards away. It turned out that the couple running the B&B also had known some of the family. They were able to visit with a cousin that they didn’t even know existed.
Scotland…
This past fall I was able to assist a couple plan a trip to Scotland that they had been dreaming about for years. Mrs. S. had been researching her father’s family for decades. We were able to match them to a driver, based in Edinburgh that was able to take them to visit many locations they had researched. They were fortunate that the records were very detailed. They knew that Mrs. S’s great-great-great-great-Grandparents had been married in the village church in 1762, ad that the church had only been built 4 years prior. As fate would have it, the small town consisted only of one street and a single church. The lentil over the door was dated 1758.
Italy…
Maybe you’ve scrolled through this newsletter far enough to be familiar with this next story, which has been featured below recently. Pat left no detail overlooked when planning her dream trip to Italy. She had relatives still living outside of Naples and was able to incorporate a visit with them into a longer vacation stretching from Rome to Sicily. During some unexpected free time we were able to quickly rearrange Pat’s itinerary so she could spend a few nights in Naples, where we were able to arrange a hotel with a view of the port. Now, you may be wondering why this was so significant, Naples isn’t known for tremendous views, those are normally found just an hour away along the Amalfi coast. However, this port, the historic port of Naples just happened to be the very same port that all four of Pat’s grandparents had boarded ships and left Italy for America from all those years ago. Later, during the same trip the driver that we had hired for a tour of Messina was able to locate the address that Pat’s Grandmother had lived on as a child. She was able to stroll down that very same street, taking in the same sites her grandmother had seen decades later.
Each of these stories share the power that travel can have on personal connections, whether it be between generations past or those we are sharing our experiences with as we travel. The power of connection through travel is profound.
I hope you are all staying home, staying safe and dreaming of your next vacation. Please reach out if you would like to start making plans, or at the very least, a dream sheet of those places that are tugging at your sense of wanderlust.
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