A HISTORY OF VACATIONS
Are We There Yet?
Volume I Issue 13
The Evolution of the Reason for Vacations
We will continue our discussion of the evolution of educational reasons for vacations over the past 250 years, specifically continuing our discussion of Genealogical Vacations.
Scottish Ancestral Trail is just one of a host of companies that offer vacation packages and deals for Genealogical Vacations. They have specialized and create travel experiences for people of Scottish descent. You can go on a customized vacation built around your ancestors and the places they lived and worked. If you don’t know exactly where your Scottish ancestors lived, you can visit destinations associated with your family name(s) or even with your DNA. Explore through the internet for other packages and deals to the country (or even U.S.) area you want to visit.
Speaking of DNA, many surname groups or online genealogical meeting places are providing (for a modest fee) DNA testing. You can find a group of only “Jones” descendants for example, with research, sites, charts and the like for just your family surname. They also generally have places to ask questions or give some information you have and something (or some ancestor) you are looking for which will receive a number of responses with help. Again the caution to do due diligence on any information you receive. Some of what you receive is very, very good, thoroughly researched and backed up with verifications. Some is conjecture or family stories that may hold some truths but just as many inaccuracies. At the very least, as in most rumors there is a glimpse of the truth and these queries might give you some insight or direction toward finding what you are looking for than you had before.
You don’t have to work with a tour operator to plan a successful genealogy vacation. I have taken my family to visit ancestral villages, churches and cemeteries both in the United States and in England. Traveling independently gave me the opportunity to do research, see places affordably and journey at my own pace. Careful planning is the key to success if you plan to create your own genealogy vacation.
The first thing you will need to do is determine the purpose of your trip. Is it general or are you looking for one specific individual or small family group. Many travelers like to combine research with cultural familiarization (particularly if your trip takes you to a foreign destination). This is also certainly the best approach to take if you are traveling with others. You can plan an itinerary that will give you time to sift through documents and see the places your ancestors lived, taking into account the interests and preferences of your travel partners. If you know your ancestor’s profession, for example, you might visit a museum dedicated to that occupation.
Next, you will need to find out when research centers, mayoral offices and archives are open. You’ll need to plan your itinerary around the operating hours of the research facilities you wish to visit.
Learning key words and polite phrases in the language of your ancestors (if it is not your own) will open many doors. Bring a phrase book and create a list of important genealogy terms. And allow extra time for unplanned explorations based on information you may find “on the run”. I once had planned a trip in Florence that included the whole city, and spent the entire day running down one specific clue (that led to another and then another). It turned out to be a most rewarding day.
Take five times as many photos as you think you should – or more. With the advent of digital photography this has become very easy to do. You don’t have to worry about the cost of film or processing. Just take, take, take (memory chips are cheap). I even have a portable (pocket size) hard drive (60 Gigabytes) viewer and storer so I can download each night what I have taken that day. It keeps all photographs taken on a particular day together and frees up space on my memory chips to start the day fresh with all my chips empty and ready to receive images.
Photograph churches, cemetery headstones, road signs, farmhouses, shops and landscapes. Later, you’ll be happy you recorded a visual impression of your ancestral home.
Genealogy vacations aren’t like standard trips. You are visiting places your grandchildren may ask you about years from now. Planning ahead will pay off in ways you cannot imagine. Our genealogy planning tips will help you get started, but you will also need to look at your goals and itinerary as you organize your family history trip.
Next issue we will wrap up our discussion of Genealogical Vacations.
We will continue next issue on more Educational Reasons for Vacations.
For all of the articles on The History Of Vacations visit
httpss://rooms101.com/vacation/history-of-vacations
