I started thinking about focusing on Ancestral Retreats last year. After meeting my extended relatives in Croatia, I thought, what a great concept to bring people to the lands of their ancestors but add more depth to the experience. I see heritage tours everywhere, but those were more bus tours where one would sit and listen to history, hop off and see the site, hop on, repeat. All of that is well and good, but I want to do something different. Why not create opportunities to meet 1:1 with locals, have more well-rounded discussions about the immigration impacts to the country, explore the archives and have the ability to ask questions, and add more personal activities like a cooking class. Connect to your roots on a deeper, more personal level!
Currently, the Ancestral Retreat in Ireland is well underway with planning. After some weeks of searching and planning activities, I had reached out to my contacts in Ireland for some advice. I am incredibly grateful for the professional network I’ve maintained since leaving my last job in international education. These are educators like me who care about the quality of these experiences. They understand exactly what I am looking for in terms of retreat building with a focus on connection and growth. These are the same ones who had assisted with the Writers Retreat and are just as excited as I am to see this come to life!
More ideas and destinations are on the horizon, but one thing at a time! Quality over quantity is very important when it comes to ancestral retreat planning. Ancestry is a very personal concept, so I don’t want it to be your standard tour. You ask people about their lineage and they’ll have stories of their grandparents or great-grandparents. The amount of people who have teared up talking about their beloved family is countless at this point. I believe we still have energetic ties to them. Their memories live on through us. That said, these retreats will focus on enhancing the ancestral connection, establish a sense of pride in your traditions (or create new ones!), and also foster a deeper understanding of the impact of immigration as a whole.
More is to come and I cannot wait to share when everything is ready!
