Use Your Next Vacation to Explore Your Roots

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Move over, Eiffel Tower. Step aside, Sistine Chapel. Instead of heading to well-known tourist destinations, many travelers are exploring tiny towns and remote villages in a bid to connect with their ancestral roots.

It’s all part of a trend known as heritage travel, or ancestry tourism. Folks go to their homelands to see sights their forebears saw, taste foods that inspired family recipes, and possibly add a few branches to the family tree through connections made on the ground.

The heritage travel boom is partly fueled by advances in technology and genetics that make it easier than ever to trace your roots. Digitized records and online genealogical research sites offer extensive information, while the mass availability of at-home DNA testing kits lets just about anyone delve into their background.

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At the same time, people are readily sharing their family trees on social media sites such as Facebook with the hope of finding long-lost relatives. They’re also tuning into popular ancestry-related programs such as PBS’s Finding Your Roots, which traces the background of celebrity guests.

And there’s one more major factor stoking interest. In our increasingly virtual world, people are seeking authentic connections—including a connection to those who came before us, says Jackie Hogan, author of the book Roots Quest: Inside America’s Genealogy Boom. “Genealogical tourism provides a sense of belonging,” she says. “It gives us the feeling that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves.”

Interested in traveling to your ancestral home? Use our guide to create a successful journey.

Do some sleuthing

Research is the single most important component of planning a meaningful trip. Start by asking relatives about your family background. See whether they can share materials such as photographs, letters, marriage licenses and death certificates for you to review. Also, check your attic, old filing boxes in the basement or any other storage areas where you might have material that can help you piece things together.

Online databases and other heritage-focused websites are robust sources of information, too. However, there are likely tens of thousands of sites out there, says genealogist John Boeren, a past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists, which has more than 2,000 members representing over 40 countries.

Navigating through dozens of resources can quickly get overwhelming. To narrow your choices, start with the online sources that have already compiled a good amount of information.

One to explore is FamilySearch.org, a free service provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has 13 billion searchable names in its historical records section, which includes draft cards, birth certificates and census records. The site also has a massive number of other resources. Among them: collaborative family trees through which users can contribute information, correct errors and connect with distant relatives.

Wondering why the LDS Church funds this? The site says it’s designed to “help people draw strength from their family relationships — past, present, and future.”

Another helpful option is Ancestry (www.ancestry.com), which has more than 65 billion records from more than 88 countries. Ancestry offers memberships with pricing that varies depending on the information and tools available, the length of the membership, and whether you pay the fee up front or monthly.

The World Explorer membership, for example, includes access to U.S. and international birth, marriage and death records, along with other enhanced features; payment options include a $319 fee if you pay for a year of access up front, or a $40 monthly fee if you commit to just a month at a time.

If you use Ancestry’s DNA testing kit, which typically costs $99, you receive information about your ancestry composition and insights into regions where your ancestors likely lived, along with access to a list of people who share similar DNA as you, and the ability to contact those potential relatives. You can also pair a DNA testing kit with an Ancestry membership.

As you compile your data, be meticulous. Triple-check any sources that aren’t 100% verified. Otherwise, once you’re at your destination, you might think you’re standing in front of an ancestor’s home, “while in reality, they lived three streets away, in another village, or in another province,” Boeren says.

Hiring a pro

If you’re not a do-it-yourselfer, you can get expert assistance through professionals such as genealogists who live in the area where your relatives once roamed. The benefit of hiring someone local is that these experts are on the ground, know the territory and speak the language, says Hogan.

She adds that your local historical society may also be able to give you resources or point you in the right direction when it comes to constructing your family tree. Plus, both the Association of Professional Genealogists and Ancestry have genealogist directories you can easily search to see whether one meets your needs.

Be sure to give the professional enough time to get their work done, says Boeren, who offers heritage travel planning in the Netherlands through his company, Antecedentia. If you reach out two weeks before your trip, an expert is likely to be booked up, and you’ll be out of luck.

If you decide to hire a pro, get details on their pricing models. Find out whether they charge hourly or by the project, and get written confirmation of the services they’ll provide before you spend any money.

Hogan says she paid about $200 to $300 for a basic 30-page report on her heritage in County Cork and County Kerry, Ireland, but notes that more-comprehensive services can cost thousands of dollars. In fact, “the sky’s the limit in terms of those services,” she says.

The Association of Professional Genealogists notes that hourly rates can vary from $30 to $40 per hour to well over $200 per hour, based on experience, location, project type and uses, demand, time constraints, and other factors. In addition to an hourly fee, many genealogists charge for additional expenses, such as their travel-related costs.

In the case of Ancestry, its ProGenealogists services start at $3,700 for the first 20 hours of research, which can include overseas researchers reviewing local records. (For a sneak peek at your destination, you can see whether it’s part of the virtual tour collection offered by Ancestry and Discover Live, a platform that specializes in real-time, on-location virtual explorations.)

As you evaluate pricing, keep in mind that an investment in initial research can be well worth it. “It really does pay off to spend some money on the front end,” Hogan says.

Evaluate your travel options

Many of us have mixed backgrounds, so your first step is to determine which lineage you want to prioritize. Often, it’s best to fully focus on one region or country at a time instead of trying to cram in multiple destinations. Even after you decide where to go, you’ll still have a good amount of decision-making to do. Ancestry tourism “comes in all shapes and sizes,” notes Boeren.

A helpful next step is to determine your budget. Think through what is most important to you, so you can be sure to allocate enough spending for those areas.

“Take it from my experience: Focusing on your must-haves will not only save time and money, but lead to a better experience,” says Drew Boyer, a certified financial planner who visits Germany every summer with his wife, who is a native Berliner. “If you’re going with a group, make sure you’re all on the same page beforehand.”

As you create a budget, Boyer suggests adding some cushion for special purchases, such as meaningful keepsakes you’d like to bring home.

Once you set your goals, determine whether you’re going to do all the research and planning yourself, use a mix of professional and DIY services, or fully outsource everything. On a trip to Ireland, Hogan used info from a local genealogist to chart her way. “I did a self-drive itinerary, and I stayed in modest hotels,” she says.

Tour options vary widely, from basic packages to fully customized experiences that book you at top hotels and provide a dedicated research guide. You can also join tour groups that focus on a specific region and provide some level of customization.

As an example, Ancestry ProGenealogists offers a range of options, including custom heritage trips in partnership with Kensington Tours, starting at $9,000 per person for a 10-day journey.

If you head to a more remote area without the assistance of a tour operator or local genealogist, be prepared to do some extra research and planning. You may not have the transportation, restaurant or hotel options that come with a mainstream tourist destination. And if you or someone in your travel party has mobility issues, you may need to determine how to deal with narrow cobblestone roads and steep flights of stairs. In addition, look into the area’s safety, as well as what entry documentation might be required.

You can save money by traveling during the off-season, but at the same time, you run the risk of certain historical sites and buildings being closed, says Boeren.

Put some thought into the tools and tech that could be helpful, such as map and translation apps. Look into international data plans and SIM cards for your phone that are compatible with the country you’re visiting. (If you rent a SIM card, you will get a new number, so you won’t be able to receive calls or texts on your regular phone number. To stay connected with family back home, consider using services such as Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.)

And determine how you’d like to preserve memories from your trip. For instance, decide in advance whether you’ll write a journal by hand, use a notes app, or rely on your phone camera and microphone to record video and audio clips of the places you see and people you meet. This way, you can arrive fully prepared.

Keep your expectations in check

Not only do you need the right clothes, shoes and apps for a successful heritage travel experience, but you also need an open mind-set, because “it’s never what we think it’s going to be,” says Hogan.

If you arrive with outdated expectations after reviewing photographs from the 1800s and early 1900s, the reality can be jarring. You may find overhead power lines, Starbucks, McDonald’s and other signs of a modern society. Once-historic buildings may now be banks or clothing stores, and your great-great-grandfather’s farmland could be an office park.

“But that doesn’t mean that you can’t connect with your ancestors,” Hogan says. “There can still be tangible connections, like a church, a street or a natural feature that your ancestors definitely would have seen, touched and encountered.”

Many people envision themselves leafing through dusty books at a local archive, but that likely won’t be the case. You may not be allowed in, or you may face a language barrier or discover that those records have been digitized. (The last thing you want to do on your trip is sit inside your hotel reviewing your history on Ancestry.com.)

If you plan to meet up with relatives, consider how you will communicate if you speak different languages. Also be prepared to share photos and details about your life.

Once you’ve done all the hard work through your earlier research, it’s time to relish “in this incredible experience of walking in your ancestors’ footsteps, breathing the air they breathed, eating the food they ate, and seeing sights they saw,” Hogan says. “It can be an incredibly moving experience. This is something that will live on long after you are gone.”

And while you’re taking it all in, do your best to document what you see for yourself and future generations.

Hogan’s advice: “Pictures, pictures, pictures. Take lots of pictures.” And as soon as you can, make a note of what’s in those photos and anything else you record so you have accurate information before your memory fades. “Document things as close as possible to when you are experiencing them,” she says.

Finally, keep some flexibility in your schedule. Give yourself enough time to get acclimated to any time change and to settle in. Then, leave room for serendipity to play out. “There’s a fine line between having enough advance planning, like planning your lodging, and still having enough flexibility in your schedule,” Hogan says. “It’s a mistake to overschedule. Overscheduling doesn’t allow you to have spontaneous conversations, wander down different streets and follow up on new leads.”

“Leave time in your itinerary to enjoy the simple things,” she adds. “If you are harried by your schedule, you’re going to be more stressed than enriched.”

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

Kiplinger contributor Laura Petrecca is a business journalist who has worked at major media organizations such as Gannett, News Corp, and Crain Communications. Prior to launching her own writing business, she held leadership roles such as USA Today’s New York City bureau chief, special projects editor, and business section editor.

In addition to Kiplinger, her writing has appeared in USA Today, Real Simple, Men’s Health, Prevention, Crain’s New York Business, Advertising Age, and AARP Bulletin. Laura also hosts livestream videos and has offered commentary on TV programs such as the Today show, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, and CNN.

She earned a master’s degree in journalism and a certificate in economics and business journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.