Genealogy Trips - More Than Just Records

You cannot resolve five to twenty years' worth of genealogy questions within a two week research trip. Even if you could, this type of a trip would not be considered a vacation. Learn to use the Internet, planning, humor, common sense, and establishing contacts to plan your trip.

Obtaining records is great but meeting cousins, seeing the old family home, standing where they grew up, learning about the places they lived or spent time, and seeing what they wrote about lets you really learn more about your ancestors.

Examples include locating the property and an 1861 log cabin in Colorado, meeting cousins while visiting my grandmother’s hometown in Slovenia, and visiting a town in France that my grandfather wrote about in his letters home during World War I.

Setting goals, Planning, Doing your Homework at Home, and Establishing Contacts will help you have a successful trip where you can meet cousins, see where your ancestors lived, worked, or just spent time. You can learn more about your ancestors and maybe even yourself.

Past Presentations:

17 November 2018 - Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society - Meeting

Valparaiso Public Library, Valparaiso, IN

8 May 2013 - Fountaindale Public Library - Meeting

Bolingbrook, IL

4 February 2013 - Lakewood Ranch Genealogy Club - Meeting

Lakewood Ranch, FL

26 April 2012 - Kane County Genealogical Society - Meeting

Geneva, IL

18 April 2012 - DuPage County Genealogy Society - Meeting

Wheaton, IL