7. Tourism and Project-based Leisure

The tourist gaze takes on an especially personal slant when adopted for genealogical purposes. This leisure project is sometimes aided by a visit to the family’s “old country,” to the community from which some of the hobbyist’s ancestors emigrated. Touring here may well include dining with relatives – thereby eating local cuisine – and seeing local sights including those related to their heirs. Other one-off leisure projects involving travel include a non-technical climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro or Mt. Fuji, a cave tour, or a visit to a famous city or country. By and large, however, most serious leisure projects are effected at the local level beyond the tourist gaze.