Trip Report - When History Becomes Personal: The Magic of Genealogy Travel with Rita Fox

Rita Fox and her wife, Katie, embarked on a life-changing journey through England and Scotland, tracing their ancestors' footsteps and discovering not only their family history but also unexpected connections that continue to enrich their lives today.

• Begin ancestry research by building upon family knowledge and using online resources like Ancestry.com, FindAGrave.com, and ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk
• Contact local family history societies before your trip – they can provide invaluable assistance and access to records not available online
• Balance your itinerary between genealogy research, sightseeing, and necessary downtime
• Consider becoming a member of historical societies in ancestral locations to deepen your connections
• Book essential experiences like the Caledonian Sleeper train and Edinburgh Castle early access tours well in advance
• Be prepared for emotional moments when standing where ancestors once stood
• Reach out to potential distant relatives before travelling – you may end up meeting family you never knew existed
• Visit museums that show period-appropriate homes to understand how ancestors lived
• Remember that you are an ambassador for your home country – bring your best self along with your luggage

If you're dreaming of turning your family tree into a travel route, start your research now and be open to the serendipitous connections that often arise when travelling with a genealogical focus.

⭐️ Guest - Rita Fox
📝 Show Notes - Episode 158

🎧 Listen to next

• Episode #127 - Solo Travel in London
• Episode # 103 - From Lands End to John O'Groats
• Episode # 98 - From Liverpool to London and beyond

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Chapters

• 0:00 Planning a Genealogy-Themed Adventure
• 14:36 Researching Your UK Ancestry
• 27:31 Balancing Family History and Sightseeing
• 34:37 Highlights of a Heritage Journey
• 47:55 Emotional Connections to Ancestral Places
• 56:35 Lessons Learned and Travel Tips

Transcript

Tracy Collins: 0:00

Planning a UK trip around your family history. In this episode I chat with Rita Fox, who recently explored England and Scotland with her spouse on a genealogy-themed adventure. She shares how they researched their ancestry, built an itinerary around meaningful locations, and what it was like to walk in their ancestors' footsteps. If you're dreaming of turning your family tree into a travel route, this episode is packed with tips and inspiration.

Intro: 0:25

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracey Collins. In this podcast, tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Tracy Collins: 1:06

Hi and welcome to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planner Podcast. In today's episode, I'm sharing a trip report with a difference. Rita Fox recently travelled to the UK with her wife, Katie, on a journey centred around their family histories, exploring the places their ancestors once lived, uncovering personal stories and connecting with distant relatives along the way. This is a lovely, lovely trip report from Rita and it's just a beautiful example of how genealogy can shape a travel experience, adding layers of meaning and emotion to every stop, and you will understand what I mean when you listen to this episode.

Tracy Collins: 1:42

I began by asking Rita to tell us a little bit about herself, where she's from and what inspired them to plan their first ever trip to the UK around their family histories. Welcome onto the podcast, Rita. It's absolutely fantastic to meet you and chat to you today. I feel like I know you. I've already said that because we were communicating when you were planning your trip and during your trip as well, which is fantastic. So can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you're from and what inspired you and your spouse Katie to plan a trip to the UK around your family histories?

Rita Fox: 2:16

Well, thank you so much, Tracy. Yes, my name is Rita Fox. I'm 68 years old. I live, along with my wife, Katie, in the United States. We're located in the state of Minnesota and we live actually in a suburb of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. We decided that really it was time for us to prioritize travel, and the UK was on the top of our list. I had made family history trips kind of part of my routine some years ago before I met Katie, and I found that it was just a really fun way to meet people, to be able to put your own family's story within the history and culture of a location, and so, since we were thinking of taking a trip to the UK, I thought well, you know, maybe we could duplicate this and do some genealogy. So that's basically how we got started.

Tracy Collins: 3:10

Oh, I absolutely love it and I've got it. You know, I was born in the UK but I've got family from Scotland, I've got family from Cornwall, I've got family from Derbyshire and it's amazing when you start going down this kind of rabbit hole of finding out where you're from, where your roots are from, that makes it amazing. So when did you first start exploring your family history and at what point did it become a kind of travel goal for you?

Rita Fox: 3:34

You are right. It is absolutely a rabbit hole For me. I knew a lot about my UK ancestry in Scotland and England and Northern Ireland, but for Katie all she really had was a handwritten family tree chart that she'd filled out some years ago, and she really didn't know much about her own genealogy. So one day we took a trip to this little rural cemetery and found her great-grandparents' headstone and it read George Whiteford from Linlithgow, scotland, and Katie had not realized at all that her Whiteford side of her family was from Scotland, so we decided to dig deeper.

Tracy Collins: 4:13

Absolutely perfect. And you say your family kind of traces back to Scotland, northern Ireland and England and you'd already kind of done that research. So how did you go about researching the places that your ancestors came from, kind of? What tools, websites or archives would you recommend? I mean, I know I've done a bit of this myself, but I'm really interested because you've kind of gone a bit deeper than I have. So I'm really interested to find out. You know how you did it.

Rita Fox: 4:40

Well, I hope you'll keep in mind that I am just really a very amateur, very, very amateur genealogist. It's just a hobby that I've dabbled in over time. Sometimes I'll set it aside for years at a time, but I was very fortunate that I had family members before me who'd done quite a bit of work, so I was able to build upon that was able to build upon that. Research has changed so much since I first started doing this in the mid-1980s. There's just so much available now on the internet that was not available before. So previously you know, as you probably know this yourself you've just had to spend time going to a local library, museum, government records building, but now so much of that is accessible online. Not everything, there's still some records that haven't been uploaded yet, but it really has just accelerated the pace of what you can learn. As far as websites, there's a number of them available. Some are paid subscription, others are free. I've primarily used Ancestrycom, findagravecom, scotlandspeoplegovuk and nationalarchivesgovuk, so there's a lot of locations that will have their own family history societies will have their own family history societies. So if you've got that information available, it really helps before you go, certainly to start all this before you start on your trip.

Rita Fox: 6:13

I found that researching the UK is so much easier than a lot of countries. There are so many good records kept. A lot of them have survived and they're in English, which is really a benefit for me who only speaks English. So this would be things like census records, church and civil recordings of births, marriage, death, military records, wills, immigrations all that kind of stuff. I would if you would.

Rita Fox: 6:42

I'd like to just offer one little bit of caution, because there's a lot of these websites that have individual subscribers. They'll upload their own information. Sometimes it's very accurate, sometimes it isn't, but the problem is if somebody posts something that isn't correct and the others simply copy and paste the same information. Simply copy and paste the same information. For example, on Ancestrycom I've come across a couple times there's a date of birth of 2014 listed for me.

Rita Fox: 7:14

So, while other people's you know their undocumented posts are great clues, they're not necessarily facts, but, however, one advantage of something like Ancestrycom is that you get to really see who else is researching the same people that you are. So what I did was I sent out some messages to people that were researching my family and also Katie's family, so, of course, they would be distant cousins. One of the biggest surprises is actually once we were already on route on our trip and one of them responded a man named Robert. He's a distant cousin of Katie's and he asked if he and his wife could meet with us. So that was just a really pleasant surprise.

Tracy Collins: 8:02

That's fabulous, I like to say you don't necessarily, when you start on this journey, you know that these sort of things are going to happen, do you? So it's fantastic and I must admit, when I did a little bit of my family history, what was really nice when I started on it is that there were kind of things that had been passed down, like my grandfather had mentioned about his aunt that she'd had an accident on a farm when she was 16 and it had a huge impact on the family and I was able to trace that and then actually see her death certificate and find out a little bit more about what had happened to her, because her name has actually been passed down the family from generation to generation and it kind of brought to life a story you know relative. So I just think it's absolutely fascinating to do. Now, once you had your family history locations, how did you go about designing your itinerary around that?

Rita Fox: 9:41

That was really a challenge, but actually a fun challenge. I liken this to putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. We knew how long we were going to be gone 17 days and we knew we'd have to prioritize which locations we'd visit. We could never get to them all, so we picked out about six locations. So then the challenge was to coordinate like which family history centers were open on which days, as well as when our friend, our host in Inverness, was available, and then also to squeeze in some sightseeing destinations too. So finally, we factored in which geographical considerations there were.

Rita Fox: 10:25

So we weren't doing a lot of backtracking, and so what we decided on was an itinerary starting with an overnight flight into London. We spent two days in London, we took the overnight train, the Caledonian Sleeper, to Inverness, two nights in Inverness, then we had a week based out of Edinburgh, and then we went back to London for three days and off we went back home oh, I think you planned it really well and you didn't do too much backtracking, and I love the fact that you used the Caledonia sleeper, which I know we'll talk about in a little bit.

Tracy Collins: 10:58

um, but how did you balance? Obviously you had the ancestry stops that you wanted to include in your itinerary, but I'm sure you also want to do some general sightseeing and a bit of downtime in those 17 days, so how did you balance that?

Rita Fox: 11:11

That was also a challenge, you know, when you've got a limited amount of time even though 17 days is quite a good time, at least in my world there was so much we wanted to see and do, but yet we didn't want to end up being so tired that we weren't enjoying of it. So what we did was we locked in the reservations we had to, and then we filled in around it with a list of just more flexible activities for other days and times, and that seemed to work well. There were a couple of days where we really just hit the wall. We were tired and we decided to scale back what we were doing.

Rita Fox: 11:48

An example of that is we had a late evening in London attending the Ceremony of the Keys. I know that's an activity you really enjoy, but then the next morning, rather than getting up early to catch a train to bath, we just decided to start later. So we did start quite a bit later and we followed by a short walk from our hotel over to the British Museum, which we absolutely loved, but barely scratched the surface of it. So you know, we just took the the things that we had to see because you had to get reservations, and then just filled in the rest.

Tracy Collins: 12:23

I was going to say. So what did so? Obviously, some of the things you would have had to have booked in advance. So what sort of things did you say, right, we need to get those locked in. And what sort of things did you leave flexible?

Rita Fox: 12:34

We knew where we wanted to stay. We'd found a company that had some really nice apartments for great location and relatively reasonable. We wanted to have cooking facilities, just for some dietary reasons for both of us. But the problem was this place was booked out months in advance. So we knew we wanted to stay there, but we weren't sure which days, and fortunately the company advises just book out as many days as you possibly can and then, as your itinerary gets a little bit more firmed up than just release the days. So that worked out nicely.

Rita Fox: 13:20

So then the next thing I think we booked was our plane tickets and accommodations in London. The other advanced things we had to book was Caledonian sleepers. You know that's a must to get that ahead of time. At Balmoral Castle we booked a guided private Land Rover tour of the state, which was wonderful A car rental in Inverness let's see the Discover Real London Black Cab Tours, and then a couple of the appointments, like at the Paisley Heritage Center let's see Ceremony of the Keys. Of course we had to book that ahead of time.

Rita Fox: 14:02

There were only a couple of dinner reservations that we did previously book, and that was at Jamie Oliver's Catherine Street Restaurant in London for a proper Sunday roast, which I know is something that you rave about. And then the highlight as far as food goes was at a place called the Preston Field House in Edinburgh. We booked at the Rhubarb Restaurant there and of course we had to get our Brit Reel pass before we left home too. I know that you had told me be sure and book your ticket for Edinburgh Castle, and then, a few days after you mentioned that, your guest was Charlie from Take Walks and she talked about a new tour that provided early access to Edinburgh Castle. That turned out to be just fantastic, having a small group the the castle basically to ourselves, so that that was great. But then we we filled in with the flexible locations, um things like sterling castle. Now we were there in may, so we didn't feel we need to book ahead of time. I can't vouch for july and august, but may it was fine.

Tracy Collins: 15:08

Um borough market, of course, the british museum, georgian house in edinburgh, um london eye, the thames river cruise in, and then finally, even song at westminster abbey yeah, you kind of went flexible with those, uh, those things and I think it's important that you did book in the the things that you mentioned, things like the caledonian sleeper. We've actually just we booked that last month for our daughter because she'll be there in August and she's going actually London, edinburgh, on it. But we were like you need to book it, you need to get it booked. And then she was panicking, thinking she hadn't booked it. So we sat down with her and went right, we'll sort that out with you. And also, when you were in, when you did the walks to Edinburgh Castle, you also saw Charlie, which was fantastic.

Rita Fox: 15:53

Yeah, she said to say hi to you. She's just a very nice young woman. She just happened to be there. It was actually another tour guide, but she just happened that Sunday morning to be out there. So yeah, it was nice to get to talk to her Great person.

Tracy Collins: 16:06

That's lovely, and it's just sometimes nice to meet people that you listen to on the podcast in real life. Yes, exactly so. Did you contact any of the local churches, archives or historical societies ahead of your visit? Because?

Rita Fox: 16:24

I guess you wanted to get involved and visit some of these people and chat to them. Yes, absolutely In fact. Not only did I contact them, but I actually became a member of a couple of these groups. One was it's called the Central Scotland Family History Society and also a group of people called the Friends of Worreston Cemetery. It's in Edinburgh, and really everybody that we came in contact with was so helpful. They were generous through their time. One example of this is at the West Lothian Family Society. They're open a couple of days a week for drop-in visitors. So we showed up the day we visited. The two volunteers on site literally dropped everything they were doing simply to assist Katie with her Whiteford family history, and then they found some additional information and one of the volunteers, alan, actually sent us several follow-up emails after our visit. Another place that was very helpful was the Paisley History Center in Paisley, scotland. So a month before a trip I'd actually given them some information to work on, so free of charge, they did a thorough review of the porter side of my family, the genealogy. So I booked a couple hour session at the center and when I arrived, their staff person, brian. He'd already set up a large table. It had the documents, the books and all pulled from the archives related specifically to my family history. So it was really really helpful and kind.

Rita Fox: 17:57

The other group that I mentioned, the Friends of Worst and Cemetery this is a really fascinating place. It's one of the world's first park-like non-denominational cemeteries. It was built in a very grand Victorian style but unfortunately years of private ownership have led to really being overgrown and with vegetation and disrepair. So a group of volunteers just stepped up and they go there and they trim around headstones. So I contacted the group's leader, carolyn, ahead of time and she helped me research exactly where my relatives were buried their lair, their plots. So I said can I come and help you on one of the Saturdays you're working? And when I arrived, caroline and the other volunteers, they directed me right to where the Brimmer family headstone was. They'd already worked to clear away the brush and they're just amazing people and they just said well, there you are, meet your ancestors.

Tracy Collins: 19:04

So it was just beautiful, it's wonderful, yeah, and just it's just fantastic that you had so much help and that these people are out there offering their support and help, for free, for you to be able to trace your family ancestry and kind of get in touch, and that's what it feels like, doesn't it? It feels like you're getting in touch over the generations and over the centuries from the people that went before us, which I always I just always find fascinating. There's just something so magical about it and I know you've mentioned that as well. There's something about you feel like you can touch the past and you have that connection, don't you?

Rita Fox: 19:35

Yeah, I really, really had a sense of gratitude for the generations that have come before and some of their struggles and their life choices, especially in context of what might be going on politically or economically, religious-wise. You know, why did they emigrate? What were the factors that led to that? So, even though we'll never fully answer those questions, yeah, like you said, you do feel very much in touch with generations that came before.

Tracy Collins: 20:06

Absolutely, and I know I'm kind of touching a little bit on my own family history, but when I found out that part of my family came from Cornwall and then I realised that they'd come from the tin mines and then moved up to the northeast to the coal mines, it was just fascinating looking at the reasons why and actually how tough people had it, really, how tough our ancestors had it and the tough decisions they had to make just to simply survive in a lot of cases. Anyway, we'll talk about your highlights now, because I'm sure there were so many amazing things that you did. So can you walk us through just some of the highlights for you and Katie please?

Rita Fox: 20:45

Absolutely, and this is some of the highlights that would be above and beyond the family history related highlights that you know I would think majority of your listeners would find more in common than might be the boring parts of my specific family history. But first and foremost I would say Westminster Abbey. The very last night of our trip, the last full day in London before we returned home, we went to the Evensong service at Westminster. It was really very moving. It's an actual church service. There's some readings and the majority of it is sung. In my opinion, I think even people that are only interested in history or interested in choral music would really find it a valuable experience and it was such a peaceful ending to the last day of our trip.

Rita Fox: 21:40

I think I already mentioned the Preston Field House in Edinburgh. We had dinner there. It was absolutely delicious, elegant, historic. I mean this place has it all. It's a several centuries old location. It was a private residence and now it's a hotel and restaurant, but it's this really genteel country estate that's plucked literally in the middle of the city of Edinburgh. When we were talking to the concierge outside the front door, he pointed out a bench that Benjamin Franklin enjoyed sitting at during his post-American Revolutionary War diplomatic tour, he had an extended stay at Preston Field House. So, for my money, any place that has hosted Sir Elton John, sir Winston Churchill and Benjamin Franklin, that's good enough for me. So yeah, it was delicious.

Rita Fox: 22:37

Yeah, ceremony of the Keys. I know that that's a favorite of yours. That truly is just living history at its best. You feel like you're participating in history. We certainly enjoyed the Royal Yacht Britannia. I think the guided, self-guided audio tour they have is outstanding and I think it's something that would appeal to people if you're interested in maritime activities or the Navy, or if you're simply just interested in the Royals, there's a little bit of something for everybody at Britannia. Um, we visited Stirling Castle.

Tracy Collins: 23:16

Go ahead oh yeah, no, I was not. I was gonna, um, just say as well, because Doug and I actually went for the first time to roll Yacht Britannia last September and I was also incredibly impressed um, because I'm not a massive fan of audio tours I'm always like I prefer to talk to people than have headphones on but actually it's really very well done. I thought it was. It was excellent and worth a visit out for sure, so I was glad to. I was glad to see that was on your list yeah, no, I, I agree 100 percent.

Rita Fox: 23:44

Um, let's see. We, uh, we went to sterling and although it's not nearly as often visited as Edinburgh Castle, I think we found it to be equally interested with an equally fascinating history and its interactive displays I thought were excellent. So, yeah, that was high on our list. As you know, we went on a Discover Real London Black Cab tour. We can't recommend it high enough. We had our tour guide, mark was just phenomenal. It's just a first-class way to see the city and especially for us as first-time visitors, we just felt like total VIPs being taken around the city. So, yeah, I would absolutely recommend that.

Rita Fox: 24:32

Another highlight is when we went to Balmoral Castle. It was Katie and I, our friend Betty from Inverness and her very wonderful friend Dave, and the four of us went on a two-hour private guided Land Rover tour around Balmoral Estate. It was excellent. Our guide, sally Ann, she just went above and beyond and you know, and we told her afterwards we said you know, sally Ann, for you this is a workday, this is a Wednesday, but for us this is a once in a lifetime event and thank you for making it so special for us. So yeah, just to see the inner workings of the estate itself. What all it's like. You get to see the red stags that you know the royals hunt and then after they kill the stag, they dress it, and Katie had a venison burger at the cafe. That was one of the red stags that were hunted on site. So yeah, that was great.

Rita Fox: 25:32

And certainly Edinburgh Castle. What can you say about that place that hasn't already been said? It's not only the tour of it, but we had a. Our accommodations on Princess Street in Edinburgh had a magnificent view of the castle. So part of our just our entertainment in the evening was just staring out the window at the castle. It was just memorized.

Rita Fox: 25:58

I'm sure there's many times in this trip that we've looked like a couple of kids in a candy store, just you know, gazing like, yeah, there goes the tourists again. They're looking up with amazement in their face. But you know, so be it. But then, besides that, there were a lot of just really unexpected moments that stayed with us Our friend in Inverness, betty. She took us for a long drive along Loch Ness and no, we didn't see Nessie, but we went to her daughter Wendy's farm and on just real short notice, wendy graciously welcomed us to her farm, showed us her horses. It was just such a peaceful and lovely farm in this deep valley. Just wandering around Inverness, going to one of the most unique bookstores I've ever seen most unique bookstores I've ever seen. And yes, there are people in Scotland that just on a Wednesday, walking down the street are wearing a kilt. That doesn't happen in the US. He was just out shopping. There was no wedding going on or anything. So I'm sure again we will look like tourists just staring. But that was, that's fine, you know, and just the other things. Trying to take a shower on a moving train Well, it worked, it was interesting, but yeah, it worked.

Rita Fox: 27:17

And there's other things I think that tourists see that people in their own environment don't see. In other words, they've seen it a million times so they don't see it anymore. An example of this we were sitting on High Street in Linlithgow and I'll keep in mind very historic. There's this huge cathedral, there's this palace that's in ruins now, but it's where Mary Queen of Scots was born. So we're taking all this history in. And then what goes by in front of us on High Street? But a big green John Deere tractor pulling a load of hay or grass clippings or something you know. So for me, as an American, having grown up in a farm, there's nothing more iconic than a big John Deere tractor. But you're seeing the modern world in the same frame, the same photo that we took along with history. It just pops out at you everywhere, but of course this is a modern country that just keeps chugging along, so you're going to see modern things right next to history absolutely it's all juxtaposed, isn't it?

Tracy Collins: 28:29

and it's funny because in London a lot of people complain about the London eye because they kind of say it's a bit of an eyesore. But I'm like that's London. London has always evolved and there's always new things, new things that potentially not going to like the shards and other one people go, but it's like that. That. That's how London has been for general, that's how the UK has been forever, for thousands of years. It just kind of it develops. And and it's an interesting point as well, because I I I hear a lot of people kind of go or, uh, you know, come and see london like a local or come and see like, but actually sometimes I don't want to go like a local, I want to, I want to have a visitor's eyes on things, because once when you're a local place, you you forget, you don't see the things exactly like you're seeing.

Rita Fox: 29:05

And and I think it's really interesting because doug and I appreciate so much now that we actually don't live in the UK, we live in Australia, which people find a bit strange, but we go back with those visitor eyes on as well and appreciate things that we probably didn't see, I think you made a good point, especially about the London Eye, because what I felt, looking out the eye itself, was just how much the River Thames has to do with why London is where it's at Like, for example, for me, where I live, the reason the city of Minneapolis, minnesota, is where it's at is because of the Mississippi River. But when you're in the London Eye, you get a sense of okay, I get it now, why is it here? Yeah, this makes total sense of how it all grew up.

Tracy Collins: 29:52

Yeah, no, absolutely. I totally agree with that, with that. Now, what about we'll go back to the, the you know kind of tracing uh that your ancestries, and were there any emotional or surprising moments when you visit the places? Uh connected to your ancestors?

Rita Fox: 30:05

I would say that emotional moments really define this whole trip. One example is we went to a place called Polkhamid Park in Scotland. It's about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It's a site of where it was formerly a huge estate and about 160 years ago there was a gamekeeper in the state and it happened to be Katie's second great-grandfather, james Whiteford. The huge mansion house that was there is long gone, but the servants' quarters, those courtyard buildings and the muse, the barns they're still there and that's where Katie's family would have lived and worked. So when we arrived, waiting there to introduce themselves was, I mentioned, katie's distant cousin, robert, and his wife Jillian. So we bonded right away and, like I said, there were a number of amazing family connections. Robert's mother's name was actually Katie Whiteford and then after we got home, one of Katie's nieces said well, you know, why don't we send them an invitation to our little Whiteford family reunion we have in Minnesota every year? Not that they would necessarily come, but we just want them to know that they're welcome. Well, sure enough, they are coming this August, making the trip from Scotland to a Whiteford family reunion here in Minnesota. So we're just delighted about that, that we're going to get to host them. That was just really exciting. That's fabulous. Yeah, it was.

Rita Fox: 31:39

There were a lot of emotional moments that really just kind of caught us off guard. For example, when we were at the Edinburgh Castle we went into one of the buildings this was after the tour, so we were still very much alone on the castle grounds. We went into one of the buildings this was after the tour, so we were still very much alone on the castle grounds but we went into a building called the Scottish War Memorial, so it was just the two of us there and one staff person. It's a very atmospheric building, I guess is how I'd describe it. So we asked the staff if he could direct us to the memorial area for the Highland Light Infantry in World War I. So he took us there. He opened this big book and he found the name of a Private, whiteford from Whitburn, scotland. He was killed in France 1915. He's a first cousin of Katie's great-grandpa and just reading the details of that were pretty emotional For me, just visiting.

Rita Fox: 32:35

A couple of residences really stand out. They're now museums but yet they're decorated in the style and in the same neighborhood where my ancestors would have lived. One of these places in Paisley it's called the Weaver's Cottage and the other in Edinburgh is called the Georgian House, and so these two places really contrasted a difference in wealth and in status. This little humble Weaver's Cottage, just a simple one room with a kitchen, hearth and beds, all in the same room to accommodate like four adults and four children. But it was in the exact neighborhood, the same occupation of my family that immigrated from Paisley. So you know, you compare that to the very ornately decorated Georgian house in Edinburgh, in the city's new town, and that's where, 150 years ago, my family that were part of the legal profession they lived in that neighborhood. So just two very different existences, but I really felt a very, very strong connection to both places.

Tracy Collins: 33:47

Yeah, I can imagine and it's to say say it again, it's kind of putting it into perspective. You know where your ancestors lived and and what their lives were like, being able to see it as well, and that's what I love about. There's so many places in the UK where you can go and see what the houses were like, what it was like inside, what the furniture was like, just so you can stand there and kind of you can feel it can't you really go in. It's like okay, so this is. You know, 200 years ago a relative of mine, an ancestor of mine, would have stood in in this, in this kitchen, preparing food or whatever, uh, with this range and you know, and then we've got our air fryers and microwaves in it kind of go, wow, you know, kind of puts it in perspective. But, um, what about, uh, were there any locations that left a big impression on you and Katie, just either for the genealogy side of things or just as travelers?

Rita Fox: 34:36

Everything, but really more than any one single location. It was just the sum total, the reason why we've decided we needed to travel more internationally. It's a reminder of how small and interconnected the world really is. I don't know, tracy, if you've ever noticed when you're traveling that the first things that stand out are the differences, whether it's language, dialect, scenery, food, transportation. But the longer you're there, what's really striking is all the similarities in humanity, how much we really are alike.

Rita Fox: 35:18

Because, I'll be candid with you, we had a little bit of trepidation about traveling internationally as Americans, and albeit it was a very small sample size, but we were so grateful and heartened to know how well received we are by the UK residents. They were able to really differentiate their affection for Americans from maybe some of their views of what's currently going on in America. So we were really, really heartened by that. You know, the world is a small place. This past week here in Minnesota, we had a very, very tragic event that happened with the assassination of a couple of state political leaders, and we had people from the UK that we'd known, had heard about it internationally and reached out, just, you know, wanted to make sure we're okay and so, and so yes, the world is a small place, for sure yeah, absolutely 100.

Tracy Collins: 36:15

And, as you say, we travel all the time and you're exactly right. It's, uh, you go and the differences are the things that you notice, but ultimately, the longer there, you just know that we're all the same. We're all the same, we all want the same things, and you know, and, and that's that's well, that's how I I love meeting people and getting to know people and find out about their lives, and, and that's what motivates me to travel, I want to know, I want to know how other people live and what their lives are like, because, but ultimately, we're all, we all want the same things. So, yeah, I'm so glad that you had that experience, uh, when you were, when you're in the uk, that's it, the same hopes, the same dreams, the same fears.

Rita Fox: 36:56

But. But what is different is I have a new appreciation for what you do, tracy, and all the traveling you do. It's tiring, it's wonderful, but my gosh, I how many times I thought how do tracy and doug do? And they're catching flights here and there, and oh, my word, yeah. So I have a new appreciation for you.

Tracy Collins: 37:16

It's true. You know, we've been asked since we got back cause we had nine months of pretty full on travel and everybody's like, oh, you must want some downtime. And I'm like, no, I could get on a flight and go again, do it all again. I absolutely, absolutely love it. Honestly, let's talk about what. Now you're looking back because you've been back a little bit, a little while. What was it that made this trip feel so magical?

Rita Fox: 37:40

You know I try not to overuse that word magical, but it really is what comes to mind with this trip. As we started getting into the planning that progressed, there were so many coincidences, these little serendipitous I don't know if you want to call them synchronicities oh my gosh. And I have experienced this before when traveling with a genealogy focus. But here's one quick example. One of my ancestors, a woman named Janet Watt, she'd left Scotland with her family. She was a small girl I do have a photo of her from later in her life, but my thoughts would just often return to her and shortly before our trip, it occurred to me that the day we were leaving home would have been Janet Watts' 200th birthday. So just time and again, as we walked in our ancestors' footsteps, I just had a feeling of connection, sitting in the sanctuary of the Church of the Holy Root in Sterling. This is the place where Mary, queen of Scots, had her coronation, but it's also where Janet Watt's family would have worshipped. So just being there, it was really, really, really moving.

Rita Fox: 39:04

But this strong sense of connection occurred both during the planning process and also visiting the different locations. I don't know what it's about. I have no idea how this all comes about. You know, whether humans have the same kind of genetic memory or corporate memory that bees do. I have no idea, but I just want to experience it and enjoy it, and we certainly did. I know that Katie and I are probably going to travel a lot in the future, but it's going to be really hard to top this trip for sure.

Tracy Collins: 39:41

It does sound like you just had the best time, honestly. So, rita, what would you say to someone who's considering planning a trip like this but doesn't know where to start?

Rita Fox: 39:50

Sure, if you were to talk to professional genealogists, I think they would mostly tell you that tracing your roots begins with yourself and you work backwards, like, for example, if your parents are living, talk to them, ask them what they know. If they aren't get their dates of birth and death what did they do for a living? Where did they live, same with your grandparents Then I would recommend trying to plug this information into a database like answeristrycom or FamilySearch, myheritage, findmypast. These websites will give you an idea of who's researching the same people. Like I said, then you can kind of reach out to these other people. Which of this information can you verify and back it up with some records that are online? From that you can try to find out when did your family immigrate from the UK, where did they live before they immigrated, and then you can reach out to the local family history societies or other resources. But ideally this is something that should be done prior to your trip.

Rita Fox: 41:05

I tell people that I probably put more hours into planning this trip than I have all other trips in my life combined, just because that was so research heavy with the ancestry, but it's rewarding to do that. You're never going to find out everything. For every question that gets answered about your ancestors, many new questions just pop up. That's the nature of genealogy and I think that's the fun of it. But yes, this is a type of occasion that's going to take a lot of extra time to plan and it'll be complicated to put it all together. But you know, if it becomes a little overwhelming, remember there's professionals to help you, and Doug are at the ready and also hiring a professional genealogist may help you just get over some roadblocks and unlock some family connections.

Tracy Collins: 41:58

Okay, that's really helpful, rita, and I know you just mentioned kind of that, doug, and I can help as well, and I know you've been very lovely in your praise for the podcast and our resources. So are there any mistakes that you avoided thanks to kind of using our podcast and our planning resources that you think others might learn from?

Rita Fox: 42:20

This is a long list. Quite frankly, I can't imagine having planned this trip with all the tips that I learned from you and the podcast trip with all the tips that I learned from you in the podcast. You know we would have had a nice trip, I'm sure, but this really put it into a whole different category having the tips that you've given us. We were waiting for our luggage at Heathrow and I was just explaining a few things to Katie and she said how did you know that? So I told her that it was from you and the UK Travel Planning Podcast. So several times that same question came up and finally she just answered her own questions and said you learned this from Tracy, right?

Tracy Collins: 43:04

Oh, that's so nice.

Rita Fox: 43:06

Some of the really invaluable resources that you gave us. Trippiamo there is absolutely no way I would have attempted to drive without taking the Trippiamo course, and I actually reviewed it a couple of times. It did give me the confidence that I could safely drive in the UK, but, that being said, I did not enjoy it. I really didn't see much scenery, so we didn't drive as much as I was planning on. But Katie didn't see much anything because she was just focused on my driving, so it. But you know, I feel like okay, if I go back and I need to drive, I can, I can do that again. But you know, with, as you know, I feel like okay, if I go back and I need to drive, I can do that again. But you know, as you know, the public transportation in the UK is so great we really really got to go every place that we needed to. Let's see another one of the trips Discover Real London Black Cab Tours. I think I've already raved about that. But you know, our guide, our driver Mark, was absolutely phenomenal. He communicated with us before we even left the US. He was flexible on a pickup point. His enthusiasm, his good-natured personality.

Rita Fox: 44:21

The Caledonian Sleeper we've talked about that just a little bit. We just had not even heard about or considered a sleeper car until we had listened to your episodes on it. What we liked is it saved us a day of travel for approximately what the price of a hotel room in London would be. But just going to sleep in England, waking up in Scotland, stepping off the train in Inverness which was our very first time even setting foot in Scotland and we were met there at the gate by our dear friend Betty, who we hadn't seen in 20 years. In Inverness which was our very first time even setting foot in Scotland, and we were met there at the gate by our dear friend Betty, who we hadn't seen in 20 years. It was really emotional. And, yeah, the Caledonian sleeper just really set the table for what was to come. Yet With transportation, yeah, I just rave about the UK's public transportation, but we use the national rail system.

Rita Fox: 45:13

We decided to purchase a Britrail pass. We costed it out and it did make sense for us. Even if it had been close, I think we would have done it anyway, just for the convenience of it. I love just stepping on it on the train. There were a couple of times that when they came around to check the tickets. They looked at it. One said, oh, I haven't seen one of these for a while. And another said, oh, I'm really not sure what to do with this, but it was always just yep, you've got a Brit rail, there you go. So we used that a lot. Having an Oyster card helped. We learned about the underground. All the tips really really helped us immensely. Let's see Take walks.

Rita Fox: 45:54

The early access tour of Edinburgh Castle was fantastic. I think I've already raved about that enough. But just having the access to the castle before the general public gets to get in for the day. As we were leaving we could see long queues lined up to get in, but they were lined up and we were already done for the day, so that was great. And then, of course, the ceremony of the keys. I hadn't heard about that at all, but definitely worth including in the itinerary too.

Tracy Collins: 46:26

No, it's brilliant and I'm glad you shared that with the listener. So, you know, know, add those things into your itinerary if you, because they're, they're all fantastic things we we recommend, honestly discover real london, the take walks, tours to take the california sleep, but they're all fabulous. Now, rita, you uh added this question in at the end, so I'm going to ask this one because it's uh, it's a fun question. So were there any humorous incidents, things that didn't go planned or that you do differently? So those are kind of, I guess, three. Well, maybe the humorous incidents and the things that didn't go to planned. Are they kind of related?

Rita Fox: 47:01

Well, since I asked the question, you know I've definitely got an answer to here for you, but I guess I would chalk them up to what I would call good learning experiences. I mean, things could go a little different next time, but you know so many of them we avoided because we listened to you. There was a time or two we didn't listen to you and that maybe caused us little problems. But, for example, I think it's really important to have a plan B transportation-wise. We ended up one day at Waterloo Station. We were trying to go someplace else and when I pulled up the app, the underground line said major delays. They just weren't working, they weren't going, and we found out that it was a major power outage that had caused a huge disruption. So we had to just kind of okay, well, we're just going to go outside and take a taxi to where we need to go.

Rita Fox: 48:03

We did have one thing that was out of our control, but we landed at Heathrow and I think it is probably referred to as a balked landing. It was more than just a go around. The plane was pitching from left to right very significantly and literally a moment before we landed and people were screaming. The pilot pulled up and we didn't land. So we circled around and came and landed a second time. It happened so fast. Everybody just looked at each other, like what just happened here. I'm not sure, but you know, there's some things that are really pretty much out of your control when you're traveling, and that was certainly one of them.

Tracy Collins: 48:47

I'm just actually going to say to our listeners at this point that it's a good job. They can't see my face Because when you were talking about that landing, there was a look of horror on my face because I don't like flying. Even though I fly all the time, I really don't like flying. So I would have been off for the rest of the day. After that. I would have been like no, and I would have been one of those people screaming Definitely.

Rita Fox: 49:14

Are you sure you weren't on the same flight? Possibly, possibly, you would have remembered, or maybe you blocked it out one or the other.

Rita Fox: 49:24

Oh gosh, yeah, there were some other just little fun little things that happened. For example, we were driving in rush hour traffic in Inverness and I couldn't get over to the lane in the roundabout that I wanted to. So I thought, okay, I'm just going to make a left-hand turn here, and I ended up on a mile long bridge over the Moray Firth and I'm sure, looking at Google Maps now, it's a beautiful view over it. I saw none of it. There was nothing that I saw. So I think that's when I decided you know, I just am really not enjoying this driving thing, but you know, it was still a good experience.

Rita Fox: 50:06

Just a few of the other little things. We were going down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh you or the other little things we were going down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and we came across St Giles Cathedral just as the Sunday morning services were ending and we just saw this huge regalia of people leaving the building and we weren't sure what was going on. We knew the Church of Scotland's General Assembly was meeting that week, but people in the crowds stopped. They pulled out their cell phone cameras and, as a woman was being escorted into a limo, somebody said, oh look, it's Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh. Well turned out, it wasn't. In fact, the closest we ever got to the Royals was at the London's a restaurant, a pub called the Ship's Tavern, and I've got a shot of Katie in the tavern in the television. In back of her they were showing an American baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals. And I'm telling you, the Kansas City Royals are not the reason that we came to the UK, but that's as close as we got to the Royals. Burl Market absolutely loved it, but I will not go there again on a bank holiday weekend, saturday afternoon. That was a mistake, even though the Humble Crumble is delicious. I'll go there a different time.

Rita Fox: 51:34

And then, finally, we had a dilemma who gets the top bunk of the Caledonian sleeper? Should it be the one with the vertigo issues or the one with the arthritic knees? But I have to admit that I did hear Doug talk about the top bunk vertigo issues and I didn't mention it to Katie ahead of time. She took the top bunk. I only told her after the fact because I didn't want to, you know, plant any seeds in her mind. But I did fess up, so I do owe her one.

Rita Fox: 52:07

In fact, the next day when we got to Inverness, we were in the cathedral there and there was a sign. In fact, the next day when we got to Inverness, we were in the cathedral there and there was a sign. And both of us looked at the sign. That was on a stand and Katie said is that sign moving? Because we were still feeling a little bit of movement from the train. I said yeah, I think the sign's actually moving. It's not us, but I don't want to scare the way of theedonian sleeper, because it was worth it. We did have a good time.

Tracy Collins: 52:38

But yeah, there was a little motion going on the next day. Honestly, doug and I have to flip a coin on that. Who's taking the top bug? In fact, the last time that we both took the Caledonian sleeper, I did it on my own and he did it on his own, so we had two to choose from. So we were a bit spoiled.

Tracy Collins: 52:53

Oh, honestly, honestly, that's so funny, that is great and I know one thing you did mention that you you'd you'd not taken doug's advice about, about getting a reservation on the train from london to edinburgh or edinburgh to london. Which way around was it probably?

Rita Fox: 53:07

oh, from edinburgh to london, yeah we were so spoiled with the brit rail, pass it. It'd just show up, okay, and the next train is leaving at such and such time. Just walk to walk there and get on. But had we had to do it over again, definitely would have booked the train from Inverness to London. We ended up, it was really busy and there were some seats we actually sat in that like uh-oh, I think this one's reserved. So then where did we get to York or someplace and we had to switch seats. Katie got stuck in a table for four in the window seat, going backwards, which again is not good for people with vertigo issues, and I don't think any of the four people were interested in any conversation. So it was kind of a long trip for her back. But that was very minor and, like I said, very much a live and learn thing.

Tracy Collins: 54:00

Yeah, well, I've done that and it's a bit like musical chairs. You just hope that nobody's going to come on and take that reserved seat. But yeah, it's always a good idea to reserve. And, in fact, doug's just released his video on YouTube about actually going from London to Edinburgh and the different train operator options you've got. So anybody who's on YouTube, pop over and check that out. He's very proud of it. It's his very first YouTube video Great, but as you know, we always end the podcast with the same question, so you're no exception. Really. You are getting the question. Finally, what would be the one tip you'd share with someone planning a first trip to the UK for genealogy travel.

Rita Fox: 54:40

I knew you were going to ask that question, so I do have an answer for you. First, could I thank a couple of people before I answer your question, of course, of course you can.

Rita Fox: 54:49

Start off, I want to really thank you and Doug, not only for all your tips, but just the enthusiasm that you bring to travel. It's very contagious and I hope you know how much you have really helped us with our trip. The other people I want to thank is our host in Inverness, our lovely friend Betty, her dear friend Dave, daughter Wendy, grandson Thomas. They just really made us feel so welcome. I think I've already mentioned our tour guide in London, mark, and our tour guide at Balmoral, sally Ann. Our volunteers in Worcester Cemetery, our friend Jill, who took us to and from the airport you know who your true friends are when they will pick you up at the airport at odd times and, of course, all the people at the Family History Centers and our newfound relatives, robert and Jillian. So yeah, it just took a lot of people to really make this very special. So thank you, tracy.

Tracy Collins: 55:48

That's lovely, that's lovely. Thank you, rita, all right.

Rita Fox: 55:53

What would I recommend? It has to do with planning. I think your listeners already know that they are in the right place planning because they're listening to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. But genealogy, as I mentioned, it really requires a lot of extra time to prepare, but it's a fun preparation process. You know, before we left we had lots of interesting stories. We'd made personal connections without even setting foot in the UK.

Rita Fox: 56:25

But I would recommend that, even if you don't travel to the UK involving genealogy, if you can find some way to personalize your trip to make it more rewarding maybe it's a hobby or a vocation that you share with people in the UK If you can find a society, a conference, just something to help make it a more personal trip than simply ticking off the boxes of okay, I saw Big Ben, nothing wrong with Big Ben, I enjoyed it but just find some way to make it more personal. And I think, finally, what I would say as far as the planning process is that all of us need to remember that, like it or not, we are ambassadors of our home countries and I think if we can focus less on bringing along our best clothes and more upon bringing along our best self, we'll be in good shape.

Tracy Collins: 57:19

Lovely. That's a lovely tip and a lovely sentiment. Rita, it's been amazing talking to you. It's been lovely to meet you, but it's been fantastic to talk to you today and get your trip report. You guys certainly had a very, very special trip and I am so happy that you were willing to come on and share that with us and our many thousands of listeners who, I'm sure, are going to thoroughly enjoy this episode. So thanks so much. Thanks so much, rita, for coming on. Thank you, tracy.

Tracy Collins: 57:49

Thanks once again to Rita for coming on the episode this week. It's been lovely to chat with you and you can find links to the places that Rita chatted about, some of the places that they where they stayed, and other links in the show notes for this episode, which are at uktravelplanningcom. Forward slash, episode 158. Don't forget you can contact myself and Doug via Speakpipe and you can find a link to that also in this week's show notes. Now that just leaves me to say, as always, until next week. Happy UK travel planning. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK travel planning podcast. As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanningcom. If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app. We love to hear from you and you never know. You may receive a shout out in a future episode, but, as always, that just leaves me to say until next week. Happy UK travel planning.