Discover Your Roots with Heritage Journey Programs

Travel advisors Ryan and Julie explore Kensington Tours' Personal Heritage Journey programs - unique travel experiences that trace your family ancestry through customized, private guided tours. Learn how to turn genealogical research into meaningful travel adventures that connect you with your personal history.

What Are Heritage Journey Programs?

• Fully customized ancestry-based travel experiences designed around your specific family history
• Partnership between Kensington Tours and Ancestry.com for in-depth genealogical research
• Private guided explorations with local experts and destination specialists
• Ongoing flexibility to adjust itineraries based on discoveries during your journey

Featured Heritage Itineraries

New York City Immigration Heritage Trip (7 Days)

• Trace immigrant ancestors through NYC neighborhoods
• Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty visits with genealogical context
• Brooklyn culinary tours and cultural neighborhood explorations
• Private ancestry genealogist consultations
• National Archives research opportunities

Northern Italy Heritage Journey (11 Days)

• Perfect blend of traditional Italian landmarks and personalized ancestry sites
• Rome, Florence, and Milan with customized village visits
• Medieval town explorations in Tuscany
• Lake Maggiore region discovery
• Upgrade options for detailed family tree research

Real Heritage Journey Success Stories

• European gentleman reunited with childhood friend in Africa through Kensington's research
• Surprise ancestral village visits during Sicily tours
• Multi-generational family bonding through shared heritage exploration

Planning Your Heritage Journey

• Best for: Couples, retirees, and multi-generational families
• Customization: Every itinerary tailored to your specific ancestry
• Research depth: Basic to comprehensive genealogical packages available
• Travel style: Luxury accommodations with authentic cultural immersion

Expert Travel Tips

• Heritage journeys work best without young children for deeper cultural engagement
• Consider as retirement celebration or milestone anniversary trips
• Start with regional heritage research before international travel
• Combine traditional sightseeing with personal family discovery

Keywords: heritage travel, ancestry tours, genealogy trips, Kensington Tours, family history travel, Italy ancestry tours, NYC immigration history, personalized travel expe

Transcript

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 0:00

Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Sometimes travel is more than just booking a ticket and reading restaurant reviews online, and it's definitely not just sightseeing, it's personal discovery and connecting with your own story. That's what we're discussing today as we highlight a very special Heritage Journey program with our friends at Kensington Tours.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 0:23

Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation, and I am a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 0:50

So Julie, I know on the show you've talked about your. Italian heritage, has that impacted where you want to travel with your family in the future?

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 1:01

Yeah, I think so. I mean, Italy is number one on my list for when we go to Europe, and where my family is from. And then a very close second is the Scandinavian region where my husband has heritage. So, you know, when we think about going to Europe, that's what comes to mind.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 1:21

Well, I definitely have Scandinavian Heritage. Headstone is a Swedish name. I know from some of the work that my dad's side has done I've got connections that led to the Chicago area. my dad grew up on the Indiana side of, of Chicago, my mom's side I'm not as clear on. I think overall I'm probably, you know, like a European mutt. Like a lot of folks when they look back at their ancestry, I even joked with Shane many moons ago on this podcast. We were planning on doing like the, the, uh, ancestry tests like the 23 and Me, and then talking about traveling to those locations. I definitely would like to get to know a little bit more. I just think as I'm getting older and I'm thinking about family and all that kind of stuff, I think it'd be neat to have a little more information.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 2:06

And that will tie in perfectly to this episode.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 2:10

I am super excited to talk about this program with Kensington. you know that we love Kensington. We've talked about them a lot on the podcast. We've had guests come on and talk about their experiences with them. They're just top notch and they have this really cool program where they. Base a trip around your ancestry, and so I'm excited to talk about that. But first, a very different type of podcast. Last week, if you did not listen, Julie and I, reminisced about this year's food crawl that we did around Disney Springs.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 2:43

Mm-hmm.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 2:45

So what are these personal heritage journeys? These are unique, private guided travel experiences that are fully customized around your family history. So not even just the region or the country, but your specific family. Heritage designed to offer a deeply emotionally meaningful exploration of your roots, and a partnership between Kensington Tours and ancestry.com, which really gives you the power to get as much genealogical insight and information, as they put this together to inform the trip. Doesn't that sound fun?

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 3:23

Yeah, I was just thinking, I did not realize they made this, that personal and that's amazing.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 3:29

Yeah, it's, based around you. And I know from, speaking with folks at Kensington, a story that plays out is, there was a European gentleman that was on one of these trips and they went back. To Africa. Uh, his parents were missionaries and he had lived in an African country, and they went back to that place and unbeknownst to him, they had actually set up a meeting between him and his childhood friend who he had not seen since. They moved away when he was a boy. they sat and they talked and they reminisced, it was one of those magical moments. He wasn't expecting it. Kensington was able to make it happen through this program. really cool.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 4:11

That is crazy.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 4:12

So how do they do this? Well, first they do an initial discovery and genealogical research. they work with ancestry.com with ancestry powered insights to trace your lineage, your ancestral locations. I'm sure there's a lot of, you know, detective work kind of going on behind the scenes here, to really nail down where you're from, who you're connect. And then they take that information and they customize an itinerary, with destination experts. they say, okay, this person is from this village in Sicily. How can we design a trip around this? This person is from this region in Vietnam, and their family was there until this time. How can we get them to know? Vietnam better. And then you go on this privately guided exploration. you have, your driver guides. Kensington does a great job with that, that work with local experts where you will be visiting Villages, historical sites, places with personal meaning, kind of like what I just talked about with, that older gentleman and his childhood friend. and then they're going to weave into that on the ground experiences. real world visits to ancestral sites, giving you cultural immersion, storytelling. I really think it's one of those things where you say. This is what I wanna focus on. I want to know about X, Y, and Z, and they're really gonna take that and run with it. Because one of the things throughout all of these steps, Julie, is really ongoing flexibility, as the journey unfolds. Kensington is going to adjust travels based on what you find, the different things that are interesting. maybe you're in a small village somewhere and you realize that you have a cousin, two villages down, you're gonna pivot and go see that person, right?

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 5:58

Wow.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 5:59

what a cool way to organize a trip.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 6:03

Yeah, can you imagine that being a multi-generational trip and just those experience would be

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 6:10

the storytelling, the memories, the intimacy, the connection that that family would have after going through that, absolutely.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 6:19

So cool.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 6:20

I wanna talk about several of these specific trips that Kensington highlights, but first I wanna talk about where in the world is Wonder and Beyond Travel. I have a client going on a trip that really has a little twist with this. I have a couple that are going on the best of Holland and Belgium River crews with Amma waterways. The fun thing about this, Julie, is the thing that started this whole conversation is having relatives in Brussels that they wanted to meet up with. So they are traveling from Chicago to Brussels, spending a couple days with their relatives, and then taking the train up to Amsterdam and. Meeting up with the river crews in time for it to leave. This is a seven night round trip, Amsterdam cruise. So they are going to, a lot of really fun things. An example is, doing that classic Amsterdam canal tour, walking tours through Amsterdam, cruising into XXX Sea, which is a medieval harbor town. seeing the Delta works, you can obviously do bike tours because it's the Netherlands and there's more bikes than people there. You're gonna be in Gantt, Which has a walking tour. Or you can do a full day in Bruge, which would be funny'cause then they can meet up with their family members again. then they're gonna be doing a capital of Belgium tour. Then the City of Diamonds in Antwerp. We talked about Antwerp just a few weeks ago. And then we're gonna end the tour with Rotterdam Holland's oldest city.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 8:03

Wow.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 8:04

And then they're gonna take the train back down to Belgium, spend some time with their family members and head back to Chicago. So I thought that was a fun trip to share today specifically.'cause we talked about that, and this is an example of the type of trips that Julie and I do. These folks will be doing this in just a couple weeks from when this show comes.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 8:25

Mm-hmm.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 8:27

All right, so I want to talk about two trips today. I'm gonna highlight one and then you're gonna highlight one. I'm gonna talk about the New York City Immigration Heritage Trip. this is a seven day trip. Obviously focus, focusing on ancestry of folks that came into the United States through New York City. So not all of this is going, you know, out to the far flung village of this, that, or other country. You're going to explore New York City's neighborhoods while tracing your roots through key ancestral sites. You're gonna customize your adventure with special stops based on you. So what does this trip look like? Well, the first day you are going to start with a city Origins walking tour, where the moment you get into New York City, they're gonna start talking about you and your family. You're gonna do a taste and traditions of New York City, hitting Little Italy and Chinatown. I can tell you, a really good dumpling place in Chinatown. You're gonna walk through the past. You're gonna do a a Brooklyn Culinary tour. You're gonna explore a city of contrast, Harlem and Bronx Tour. Then you're going to head to the Statue of Liberty. You're gonna go to Ellis Island. you know you're gonna have a chance to see where your ancestors came in, maybe even see where they signed the books And then on day six, you're gonna have an exploration with an Ancestry, genealogist. you're gonna have a private driver to take you to all the sites. You're gonna go to the National Archives if there's anything that connects you to your family there. What a really cool trip, Julie.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 10:11

Yeah, and you don't have to go very far, right?

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 10:14

You don't have to go very far. it's all within New York City. you're getting that focus on your family and what it was like for them to immigrate to the United States.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 10:23

and it sounds like that could be a great starting point to then jump on to your Europe trip or whatever you find out about your family,

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 10:32

Yeah, absolutely.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 10:33

So let's switch gears into going over to Europe, This is the Northern Italy heritage journey. What I love about this itinerary is it is a perfect marriage of. Seeing traditional Italy sites and landmarks that you wanna go see, but then that switch to that personalized trip. So I love how it combines both of those into one trip. this is an 11 day trip and, remember, everything with Kensington is completely customized, I'm gonna walk through what this sample itinerary looks like, but if this was your family and your trip, obviously the towns would be catered to you,

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 11:18

Absolutely. And the same with New York City too. everything can be changed based on what they find with the ancestry. Maybe you're spending more time in the neighborhoods. absolutely.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 11:28

you're going to explore the charm of Northern Italy while tracing your roots through your key ancestral sites. the way you're gonna do that is by customizing your adventure, having curated stops guided by that pre-trip genealogical research you're gonna do. You're gonna be able to uncover your Italian story with a genealogist who has created an entire day. Or more for you in your family's region. You can also upgrade the research package. to receive an additional in-depth report and detailed family tree. And just like all other Kensington packages, you're going to be able to stay at handpicked hotels, and have these bespoke tours that are thoughtfully curated by your destination experts. Let's talk a little about, like a day by day so you can get that idea of how you're gonna mesh seeing, the landmarks, but then also seeing your family heritage. you're gonna arrive into Rome, You're gonna be doing the best of Rome tour, going to the Vatican Museum, the forum, and the coliseum. now that is a long day.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 12:41

Yeah.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 12:41

that's your second day

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 12:43

Whew.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 12:43

so you do get that first day to adjust at least. From there. The next day, you're heading over to Florence, and you have some free time to explore Florence. The following day, you're doing a walking tour with Academy Gallery. And then you're also gonna have a whole day where you're going to those countryside, smaller towns in Florence, and that sounds like you could really have a lot of in-depth experiences there because those towns are smaller, they're very historic. You're gonna have a lot of leisure time, which I'm thinking would probably be filled by whatever you have found within your heritage. gonna keep going to some lesser known places. There's Nia in here. you're gonna be going up towards the islands of Lake Majeure Uh, it just sounds really beautiful. You're ending the whole trip in Milan and then flying home from there. I love that this. allows you to see so many parts of Italy, but you can then customize it the way that you would prefer.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 13:41

That's really cool. I had to kind of chuckle to myself as you were talking about this. I had forgotten about, this experience when I put this together for today, A gentleman reached out several years ago and he wanted to do a trip to Sicily for him and his wife. he wanted to do a tour of Sicily, but during the trip, surprise her by going to the small villages that their families were from. Okay. So I started to do some work. we've got some partners that do really good Sicilian trips, so I reach out to them saying, Can we add this on and everything? And I sent him some quotes and he said, this is perfect. This is exactly what I want. I feel like I kind of need to see, you know, I wanted to surprise my wife with some of this, but not all of it. So I wanna see if she's interested. Nope. She wasn't interested at all. I guess we're not going to Sicily. I thought it'd be really cool, and she just was not interested at all.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 14:32

We will, I'll go to Sicily.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 14:33

Well, I don't know, Julie, I mean, this is kind of a, uh, an obvious question maybe, but would you do a trip like this to help understand your family better?

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 14:43

I think absolutely. I think this is like a trip that you kind of do. I know we talk a lot about don't wait to travel, don't wait to do those things. But I do think this is a trip that doesn't go well with little kids.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 14:55

Sure.

j_2_09-05-2025_134942: 14:55

I think this is a trip that goes better, as like a retirement celebration. that sounds really amazing because you do have the time to sit and get in depth with your ancestry at that point. The world is full of wonder and your next great adventure is waiting at Wonder and Beyond Travel. We work with you to create a one of a kind journey, taking the stress off your plate so you can focus on the joy of exploring and the memories that will stay with you forever. If you are ready to start planning or just want to dream a little bigger, head over to Wonder and beyond travel.com. We'd love to help you get started.

ryan_2_09-05-2025_134942: 15:32

We look forward to talking to you next week on all Things Travel, when we discuss some of the best shore excursions in the Caribbean when you take your next cruise.