adventure

SNGF: Family Vacation

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I’m having some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (#SNGF), with help from Randy Seaver and his prompts! Feel free to join in.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: August 1, 2026

Prompt: “Did your family go on vacation? Describe one or more of your vacations with your birth family or with your spouse and children.”

Vacations Transformed by a Camper

One of my most memorable family vacations – for both good and bad reasons – was the Southern road trip my father took us on.

Dad had gotten a girlfriend who enjoyed camping, so naturally we went on camping weekends. One rain too many, though, and Dad pivoted to buying a pop-up camper (along the lines of this but much, much older). This camper gave us the freedom to travel, which we’d never been able to afford before, and Dad took advantage.

Our Great Adventure

He had custodial time for a week or two in the summer, and he took us on our Southern Road Trip for one of them. We saw many places, most of which I’ve sadly forgotten and need to dig out a photo album. One of them was Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where we encountered a hurricane and got, yes, drenched. I got a lighthouse knickknack and painted it to match the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse pattern as a gift for my dad. When he passed, I brought it home, where it sits in my home office.

Another stop we made was visiting his aunt – Aunt Tess, my grandfather’s only surviving sister. I believe that was the only time we girls ever met her.

Dad made sure to incorporate a lot into the short trip – camping, sightseeing, family. And all in all, we got a lot of together time in.

Last month, when my husband and I took our children on an adventure vacation of our own, I found myself thinking about Dad and that old pop-up camper. I hope my children remember our travels just as fondly—and continue the tradition someday.

Dad and my sisters in the pop-up camper.

AI Disclosure

This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 20: Wheels

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I’ve combined Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge, and Steve Little’s The 2025 AI Genealogy Do-Over, to create a unique 52 AI ancestors in 52 weeks party!

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 20: Wheels

“Wheels of Love: A Father’s Road Trips and an AI-Powered Bucket List”

Introduction

Wheels are at the very center of my relationship with my father, and wheels are how he got to act as a father for two decades.

Discussion

“Since my sisters and I were young, my father has made it clear that he was there for us, and he cared, no matter what. Can you imagine what that means to 2, 4 and 7-year-olds in the middle of a bitter divorce? …

“He still makes the every-other weekend trip to see my sisters, now 14 and 16, about a thousand miles each time. He threw his back out… but wouldn’t cancel the trip even then.” – me, in a letter written in 1986, nominating my father Bob Anderson for Single Parent of the Year[1]

Back in 1975, divorced fathers were Saturday fathers. My dad, though, fought the system. My mother had moved us more than 200 miles away and that was not a trip he could do every Saturday. It took him a year and a half, but he won the right to take us every other weekend. And he used it.

We typically went back to his place one weekend a month, and to his parents’ house the other.

From New York, we had road trip adventures during his two-week summer visitation. One year we drove up to Canada and camped throughout the eastern third of the country. Another year we had a camping trip down as far as North Carolina – coastal and the Blue Ridge mountains. We explored campgrounds closer to home like Massachusetts and New York. It’s funny; I don’t like camping, but those are the trips I remember best.

The literally hundreds of thousands of miles that Dad logged enabled us to know half our family. Not to mention the precious memories, sense of adventure, and the steady support we needed.

Much later on, Dad’s mom fell ill and Dad and I wanted to visit regularly. Dad said he was “burned out” from driving, so it was my privilege to bring him to her so they could spend her last months together.

How AI can help

Dad fueled my sense of adventure. “Inspired by those miles of memories, I recently asked myself: what kind of journeys do I want to take next — and who could help me plan them?

I wanted to create a bucket list — and turned to AI for help. I have in the past been impressed with Claude’s ability to plan a trip (see AI as a travel assistant) and I probably should have again, but I tried ChatGPT and am happy with it. I told it I anticipate having 20 years left, and would like to fulfill some dreams, in a three-part manner: I wanted adventures, I wanted to give back to the world, and I wanted to make genealogical contributions. The adventure part, where we’re focusing here, gave me an awesome first pass:

A first pass listing continents and adventures

I then specified that I wanted many continents, and a suggestion for each!

An iteration clarifying the continents breakdown

We added bonus goals (additional must-sees) and gardens (The 25 Gardens You Must See from The New York Times). We did a “starter plan” for years 1-3. We created a checklist and a pretty pdf book.

A starter plan for year 1 with a theme

This has inspired me to plan something for this year, as a start! There is no time to waste in living life!

Summary and challenge

“Adventures don’t begin when you pack your bags — they begin the moment you dare to dream them.”



In traveling, I feel I am honoring my father’s dedication to his family, as well as my ancestors’ drive to better their circumstances.

Your Turn:

Start iterating on your adventures! Make a bucket list or simply plan your next adventure. See the blog I linked about the travel assistant for some hand-holding on the latter.

Next week’s topic: “Military.“

Disclosure

This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.

[1] Staten Island (New York) Advance, 21 Jun 1987, page D1, D3, cols. 1-6, “Weekend fathers”; imaged in “Newspapers,” database with images, Newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com/article/staten-island-advance-weekend-fathers-pa/172583331/ and https://www.newspapers.com/article/staten-island-advance-weekend-fathers-p/172583422/ : accessed 17 May 2025).