Counting Down to the 10th Unlock the Past Cruise

I last wrote about the 10th Unlock the Past Cruise 4 months ago, and time (as expected), has simply flown since then. But with holidays, Christmas and New Year in between, it’s not surprising that we’re now about one month away, as confirmed by my countdown app.

In my last post I wrote about the where this awesome ship was going (Auckland > various stops on New Zealand North Island > various stops on New Zealand South Island > Sydney > Melbourne> Adelaide > Fremantle). I wrote about the awesome speakers on it (including Judy Russell, Louis Kessler, Paul Blake, and a heap of others I’m looking forward to hearing).

What I didn’t write about was the 72 talks that are going to held during the 18 day cruise. Yes you read right … SEVENTY TWO of them! Just how much of that I’ll soak up, I dunno. But I’ll certainly do my best.

I’m not going to list all of the topics of the talks here, but rather I’ll give you just a taster. As per usual with all Unlock the Past cruises, there is an incredible range of topics, so there really is something for everyone. Genealogists, historians, beginners and advanced.
– Fair use and fair dealing: copyright law for genealogists
– Using British probate records to discover the origins of your emigrant ancestors
– How to improve research with source-based genealogy
– The common poor: transported, indentured, enslaved
– Love, sex and damn lies
– Health of the ANZACs in the Great War
– Gadget Janet: 12 devices or programs that will turn your computer into a friend instead of a foe!
– Of public wrongs: our common scoundrels
– Using life events and ages to solve genealogy problems
– Panel: Future proofing your genealogy
– Mining ancestors: knowing where to look
– ABCs of DNA
– Beyond just indexes
– TheGenealogist.co.uk: what’s the difference?
– Sporting ancestors
– Why genealogy is everyone’s solemn duty
– London genealogy: or the metropolitan nightmare
– Reading and interpreting records from Germany
– Genealogical learning from home
– Photo preservation
– School days: education records for family history

This is just 21 of the 72 talks, so as you can see there really is a whole range of topics. For the full program which lists all the topics on this cruise click here. I’ll be sure to take two or three notebooks for all of my notes.

Anyway with just a month to go, it’s also time to start thinking about my own research, and getting my queries organised to make use of the Research Help Zones (one-on-one with experts). And also updating my tree, just in case anyone might have a connection to me … (it DOES happen, so you just never know) … and then you can compare data.

Now is also the time to recheck my list of suggestions for First Time Geneacruisers (also very useful for non-firstimers as a reminder). Comfy shoes, a small bag, appropriate plugs, getting used to using a sea pass cards as cash onboard, and various other things.

I’m looking forward to the ship, I’m looking forward to the sightseeing, I’m looking forward to catching up with geneafriends and making new ones, and of course I’m looking forward to the talks.

So what more can I say, other than roll on the 14th of February … I can’t wait!!!

The basic details:
Ship: Celebrity Solstice
Dates: 14 February – 3 March 2016 (18 nights)
Itinerary: from Auckland to Perth

For more details on this, and other genealogy cruises, please head to
www.unlockthepastcruises.com
I hope to see you on one in the future.