Four Ways to Connect & Feel Pride In Your Ancestral Homeland
Written by: Melanie Gardner
Building a bridge between you and the place your people are from should be an expanding and eye opening experience, and hopefully a joyful and pride-filled one, too! Here are a few ideas to get you started on your journey to connect with who you are, where you’re from, and what influence the homeland of your ancestors might have had on your loved ones.
Get a DNA Test Done – DNA tests are a sure-fire way to connect with who you are and where you came from. Not only will you be able to see the use your DNA to figure out where you and your family came from, you’ll have a jumpstart on tracing your family back even further than traditional family history might.
Be Proud of Who You Are – Knowing where you’ve come from can create a bond between you and your ancestors. Maybe you don’t know all about them, but you can take a peek at what their upbringing might have been like in the country where they were born. Research the struggles, triumphs, and history of your homeland. Taste the food, listen to the music, try the language, dance the traditional dances– All of these things will help you connect to your ancestors on your journey to feel admiration and pride for your loved ones.
Plan a Visit – Online research, reading books, and asking others who may have been to your ancestral homeland is an amazing start. But home much more amazing would it be to walk to streets where they walked or see the farmland they worked or the space where their shop used to be? Ever heard of heritage tours? Heritage tourism is traveling to understand the cultures and places of the past—including those of your ancestors. Learn more about how to create a personalized travel experience in this article.
Weave your way through a Heritage Connections Workbook. All the hard work has been done for you. All that’s left for you to do is get started! This beautiful, keepsake, one of a kind, ebook will help you experience the culture, places, language, dress, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of your past and make you feel even more connected to your loved ones.
I love reading your blog. It made my day. Thank you for posting this. Great work!
Our family loves to visit our homeland, and we are happy every time we meet our relatives and the people who were part of our parents’ lives when they were young.