I stood on a runway in Inverness, Scotland and started to cry. I had never been there before. What happened next took months of research to understand — and it changed the way I think about place, identity, and the landscapes we carry inside us.
In this episode of The Places We Become, travel psychologist Dr. Katie Blake explores the science of place identity — why certain destinations feel like home before we arrive, what epigenetics tells us about inherited memory and ancestral connection, and what it means when a place pulls at you in a way you’ve never been able to explain.
From Rachel Yehuda’s landmark research on intergenerational trauma to the story of a woman who spent her life gravitating toward the city where her story began without ever knowing it — this episode is about the travel psychology behind one of the most profound and mysterious experiences a traveler can have.
In today’s episode of The Places We Become, I share:
Why some places feel like home before you’ve ever been there — and what travel psychology says about why.
The field of epigenetics and what inherited memory means for the way we experience place.
Harold Proshansky’s concept of place identity — and why where you’re from is part of who you are.
The story of Marjorie Marrow and what it reveals about ancestral connection and roots travel.
Glenn Albrecht’s concept of solastalgia — the grief of a changed or lost landscape.
What your own place story and heritage travel instincts might be telling you.
If you’ve ever stood somewhere unfamiliar and felt, inexplicably, that you belonged there — or felt drawn to a place connected to your ancestry or roots — this episode is for you.
Read the companion piece: I wrote the full research behind this episode in The Psychology of Place: How the Places We've Lived Shape Who We Are on The Journal of Travel Psychology — including the Inverness story in full, the Proshansky and Albrecht research discussed here, and a deeper look at what epigenetics can and can't tell us about inherited connection to place.
Research discussed: Rachel Yehuda’s epigenetics research on intergenerational trauma transmission. Emory University research on inherited fear responses across generations. Harold Proshansky’s place identity framework (1970s). Glenn Albrecht’s concept of solastalgia. Story of Marjorie Marrow as shared by Andy Samberg on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast and explored on PBS Finding Your Roots.
Share Your Story!
Has a place ever felt like home before you arrived? Have you traveled somewhere connected to your roots or ancestry and felt something unexpected shift? I’d love to hear your story. Share it for a chance to be featured on a future episode of The Places We Become.
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