How My Ancestors' Migration Paths Echo in My Own Moves

Photo by Shelby Hughes

I’ve never been someone who moves just for the sake of it. Every place I’ve lived has had a reason, even if I didn’t fully understand it at the time. Looking back now, especially after digging into my ancestry and seeing those migration paths, I can’t help but notice a pattern.

For the most part, I grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (minus a few years), and spent most of my adult life in different parts of the state. North Carolina is where I built a business, made a life, and figured out how I wanted to move through the world. Slow, intentional, and rooted.

Now I live in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. And while this part of the state is new to me, Pennsylvania itself isn’t. My mom is from Johnstown, and growing up, we’d visit her side of the family pretty regularly. So even though this move was a shift, it wasn’t a total unknown. It felt familiar in a way I couldn’t fully explain.

I took one of those ancestry tests years ago. At the time, it was just something I did out of curiosity. I looked at the results, thought “interesting,” and went on with life. But as I’ve gotten older and started noticing the patterns in my own choices, it’s started to land a little differently.

A lot of my ancestors had moved through or settled in the same regions I’ve lived in or spent time in. Georgia, the western parts of the Carolinas, the Appalachian corridor. Pennsylvania, some passed through French Canada, others came from places like Scotland, Ireland, or Southern Italy. Over generations, they slowly made their way into the same landscapes I’ve found myself returning to.

I’m not saying I mapped my life around their footsteps. But I do think some part of me has always been drawn to the kinds of places they chose. Places with hills and trees, open skies, and a little breathing room. Places where things take time, and people still feel connected to the land.

So while the decision to move wasn’t mine alone, the landing still felt right. It felt like more than just a new chapter; it felt like I was continuing something. Maybe not intentionally, but definitely not randomly either.

I don’t think every move or decision has to have deep meaning. But sometimes, when you pause and look at where you’ve been, and where you come from, I’m not chasing the past, but I do pay attention when my life starts to echo it. And apparently, that’s where I feel most at home.