“The point of going to Italy is the sense of belonging”

This chapter describes “family roots vacations”, which refer to holidays undertaken by an immigrant family with the purpose of providing a cultural introduction to Italy and meeting family members still living there. The role of these visits in maintaining transnational family ties, as well as fostering Italian language acquisition is examined. The second- and third-generation Italian immigrants to South Africa reported one or more visits during childhood. These (usually brief) visits created an idealized view of Italy which served as a foundation for future visits and created a longing in some of participants to live in Italy permanently. When these participants moved to Italy, they experienced a number of disillusioning challenges and eventually decided to return to South Africa.