One sure-fire way to discover your roots, to see where your ancestors came from and to connect with your lineage is to work for an employer who operates his business all over the world and he needs you as a laison for his company. I know of one such lucky person. We have known each other all our lives.

A year ago, the end of this month, while checking my E-Mail, I was not surprised to see one from Bunky, but what did surprise me was that his salutation started out 'Buon Giorno!' It originated from Italy! He lives in Utah! He went on to write:

"Greetings from Italy! Last week my company talked me into installing one of our machines in Avezzano, a small town one hour drive southeast of Rome. It will take me two weeks to do that and two weeks follow up work. Being here somehow reminded me of my family and I am on a mission to use my off times to trace my roots. Since I am a second generation Sicilian, that shouldn't be too hard to do." Etc., etc., etc. "Ciao", he finished.

Now, I knew that he had never learned his family's language -- one day in Italy and he was a native! By his fifth E-Mail, he was extolling the Italian lifestyle. He had already gotten used to the two-hour lunches and the three-hour dinners that didn't end until eleven o'clock in the P.M. By his tenth day there, he was convinced that the two-year opening his company had for a rep/installer in Italy was for him. He promised himself, he said, that he was putting in for a transfer the minute he got home. He was bound and determined to move his family lock, stock and barrel to Italy. He also vowed that, by the end of his tour of duty there, his family tree would be complete for the past ten generations of the Sicilian blood that ran through his veins. He had not only picked up his language rapidly but he had acquired the passion that went with it as well.

His fervor led me to thinking. Why is it that we find it necessary, as humans, to be on the move, to want to leave our homefires? What is it that prompts us to want to go over that next hill and across that big ocean?

Trivia:
When I am here, I do as we do. When I am there, I do as they do. (ST. AMBROSE -- 4th c.)

EDITOR'S NOTE:
Do you have an interesting travel story? If so, checkout our SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINE and submit it. Please direct your email to the Editor.