How to organize a genealogy trip

In My Humble Opinion
1

When I retire, one of the things I would really like to do is to go on a trip to as many of the towns where my ancestors came from as I can, and do genealogical research that you can only do up close and personal.

I live in San Francisco. Most of the more recent locations (say 3 or 4 generations back) are in the midwest, in a more-or-less straight line from Omaha east to Cleveland; then there are a few sites in New England that go back to the 18th century.

New England is easy, I can fly to Boston, drive around as needed, and return to Boston. Maybe that could be a separate trip.

But the midwest leg is more difficult. I can:

  1. Drive all the way, and see the country.
    1a. Car and stay at hotels
    1b. RV (rented) and stay at hotels occasionally.
    B. Fly to one end, rent a car and drive to the other end, return the car at the other end (incurring the expense of returning a rental car at a different location from where it was picked up) and fly home.
    III. Fly to one end and take trains and buses to the other end and fly home.

Or some variation of these, or something I never thought of. Assume that, within reason, money is not an object (that is, I ain’t rich but I think I can afford any of the ordinary means of travel). It seems like having a car or other vehicle as a sort of home base, for carrying computer, documentation, etc. would be handy.

How would you do it?
Roddy

2

I’d choose 1a, assuming you have the time as well as the money.

3

Definitely a car. Without knowing what your genealogy experience is, I offer the following: Before you even start, you need to find out where the records are kept. A lot of county records reside in the state capital, and town records are often in the county clerk office. Also, find out if there are local genealogy centers that deal specifically with your areas of interest. In fact, it would be worth a call to the local genealogy organizations to get their recommendations on what you’re looking for. Without this information, you can end up running in circles. All the information above is easily available online.