Heritage Travel: A Personal Reflection on Hellenism

Kontalis family home in Louka

This post is a bit different from my others. It will not help me rank on Google, and it's probably only relevant to my family and me.

But that's okay. I wanted to write about the importance of heritage travel because I love it, and I want to talk about it.

While I had been to Greece before, in 2019 I was selected as a participant on the Heritage Greece trip through the National Hellenic Society. 

This opportunity provides young Greek-Americans ages 18-26 to visit Greece for two weeks, take language classes, attend exclusive seminars and exhibitions, and make lifelong friends.

Lighting a candle at my great-aunts burial site

Since then, I've become even more committed to strengthening my relationship with my heritage. 

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to visit the actual village my family is from. But getting to that place was a journey.

You see, my mom was adopted as a baby by two very not Greek parents. However, she knew from some adoption records that she was of Greek descent. It wasn't until a few years ago that she used one of those DNA/Ancestry tests to begin looking for her family, mainly for medical reasons.

Well, it was truly a crazy coincidence that her family results led her to realize one of her co-workers was her first cousin's stepdaughter.

Small world, huh? 

As you can imagine, my mother was rather thrilled at these findings and dove head first into trying to learn more. Unfortunately, due to a hereditary disease, my biological grandmother passed away in her thirties, along with two of my great-aunts. As a result, her cousins didn't even know she existed, and much of the Greek culture had died out. Over the years since, we've formed stellar relationships with her first cousins.

Sheep chilling in the village

However, through my mother's intense research, she was able to get to know her grandfather's sister's descendants. That side of the family has remained extremely, extremely Greek. They almost all speak fluent Greek, and you feel like you're stepping into My Big Fat Greek Wedding when you go over for dinner.

My Thea Antigone (technically my mom's second cousin, but in the Greek world, she's considered my aunt) happened to be in Greece this summer visiting the other side of her family and offered to show me around the Kontalis family village. 

I can't express to you how awesome it was to visit. Antigone kept insisting that I don't get too excited because there isn't anything there. It's true – there's isn't much there besides a church, school, and tiny cafe. Oh, and a bunch of sheep. Sitting in a valley surrounded by mountains, I couldn't help but think how hard it must have been for our grandparents to leave Greece. A place so beautiful yet filled with complications and trials that I'll never understand.

I know that travel is a privilege. I hope more countries like Greece and Israel work to create heritage programs like the one that initially sparked my passion for my heritage. While we should be proud of where we currently live, I think it's extremely important to connect with your roots. In the grand scheme of history, particularly for Americans, so little of our roots is where we live now. For most Americans, their ancestors only left their countries within the last century or two. There is a lot of perspectives to be gained by seeing the places your family struggled to leave.