Have you ever felt the pull of a dusty road, a forgotten letter, or a story waiting just around the bend? Welcome to Branches & Backroads — where we chase those whispers of the past with both wonder and purpose.
My name is Rosanna, and I am just like you: a wife, a mom, and someone who works full time with barely a spare moment to myself. My life is wonderfully busy, but it leaves precious little time for those once-in-a-lifetime research trips. Because of this, I’ve learned how to plan efficiently, organize thoroughly, and make every genealogy journey count.
Branches & Backroads was born from my love of heritage and my need to roam, even when life is packed to the brim. I know the delicate balance of managing a career, family, and passion for research — and I want to help you navigate that, too.
Here, you’ll find:
Research planning tools
Printable travel kits
Tips to stay organized on the road
Resources that honor the joy of discovery
Every trip you take and every page you turn is part of your story. Let’s wander wisely and wonder freely, together.
Thank you for being here.
Warmly, Rosanna
I’ve spent years tracing my family lines, standing in forgotten cemeteries, flipping through archives, and planning trips with more folders than suitcases. Along the way, I wished for something that blended gentle organization, travel planning, and the wonder of heritage chasing—so I built it. Read More.....
Recently, my family and I were on vacation. It was a beautiful, no agenda kind of trip: a rare escape where I hadn’t planned to do any genealogy research at all. I didn’t pack my bag of wonders: that familiar, well-loved bag I usually keep with me at all times, ready for the unexpected research opportunities life loves to throw my way. Read More.....
I want to share what I keep in my Genealogy Travel Kit — the simple, beautiful tools that live in my tote bag and in my car, always ready just in case the road opens unexpectedly. Read More....
There’s a special kind of joy in planning a genealogy road trip: the anticipation of stories waiting to be uncovered, roads ready to be explored, and the stirring of my soul as I allow myself the freedom to step into the past.
I’ve taken many journeys in the name of the pursuit of family history, but each one feels unique. And my next one? It’s shaping up to be something special. Read More.....
A Journey Well Traveled: Reflections from My West Virginia Genealogy Trip
Sometimes a trip gives you exactly what you set out to find. Other times, it gives you something you didn’t even know you needed. My recent adventure through the hills and hollows of West Virginia turned out to be both.
I came home with several land records that opened up new doors in my family research, but even more than that, I came home with a quieter heart, a refreshed spirit, and the sense that I had walked a little closer with those who came before me. Read More...
A Weekend of Gratitude, Scanning, and Family Photographs
Every once in a while, a treasure falls into your lap that makes your heart skip a beat. I was blessed with a true windfall: boxes of old family photographs loaned to me for preservation. Some were carefully labeled, others tucked loosely into envelopes, waiting patiently for their stories to be retold. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my weekend than surrounded by these images, scanning and preserving them for future generations. Read More...
The Power of a Name: Why Labeling Your Photos Matters
There’s a special kind of magic that happens when you open a box of old family photographs. Faces from long ago seem to peer right back at you, familiar and mysterious all at once. You might recognize a smile that looks like your own or a house that still remains in the family. But sometimes, despite your best guesses, you’re left wondering: Who are you?
Last week, while finishing up the big photo-scanning project I started a couple of weeks ago, I had that exact moment. While scanning a hat box full of photos, I came across a lovely portrait of a young woman sitting in a yard holding two children. Her expression was one of pure happiness. You could truly feel the love she had for those children. The photo was mixed in with a bunch of old Polaroids, so there weren’t others with it to compare or tie it to an event or a particular line of the family. It was as though it had somehow lost its way and ended up being tossed aside and forgotten. No name. No date. No story. Nothing that gave any indication of who she was or how she tied into my husband's family.
My heart sank a little. At that moment, I realized....read more
If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been… I’m still here. Just a little snowed in. A little buried in boxes of photographs. A little deep in reflection and self-discovery.
Life has a way of growing quiet on the outside when a lot is happening behind the scenes and insider of us. The kind of quiet that isn’t empty, but full. Full of remembering. Full of slow work. Full of discovery. Full of the gentle rearranging that happens when you finally stop long enough to listen to yourself think.
These past weeks have been filled with one of my favorite kinds of work: sorting through old family photographs and scanning them into something that can be carried forward and shared. If you’ve ever done this, you know it’s never just a technical project. It’s emotional archaeology. Every photograph is a doorway. One envelope leads to another. One familiar face leads to a story you’ve heard a hundred times… and suddenly you’re noticing something new in their eyes, in their posture, in the way they stood beside the people they loved. Every memory stirring something inside of yourself that you forgot was there.
There’s something tender about handling pieces of a life that existed before you. Some of these faces are people I knew. Some are people I never had the chance to meet. But all of them are part of the long, winding road that somehow led to me and who I am. It’s humbling to realize how many ordinary days had to happen for us to exist at all. How many small decisions, quiet acts of love, dreams, heartbreak, and unseen sacrifices shaped the paths we now walk so freely. Read More
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