Exploring Southern Italy through heritage and culture.

Discovering my Family History

My interest in genealogy began with the stories my parents told me, old family photographs and a growing curiosity about where we came from.

Before returning to Italy, I joined Ancestry and began researching my mother’s family. I was amazed by what I found. I could trace generations of my family in and around San Fele back to the 1700s — and potentially even further. To discover that my family had lived in this small part of Southern Italy for centuries absolutely fascinated me.

Researching my Croatian heritage has been more challenging. Borders have changed, countries have changed and many records are much harder to find. That part of my family story is still something I’m discovering.

And perhaps that’s what I love about genealogy — there is always another story waiting to be found.

My Journey to San Fele

In 1990, in my twenties, I travelled from Australia to San Fele to meet the family who still lived in the farmhouse where my mother had grown up.

More than 30 years later, I returned. The family was older, I was older, and I saw this little part of Southern Italy through completely different eyes.

That return changed the way I thought about family, heritage and travel — and became part of the inspiration for Inspiring Travels.