Everything families ask before they trust us.

We work only in the western regions, hundreds of kilometres from the front line, where daily life goes on. It is still a country at war, and we plan accordingly: written protocol, war-risk insurance, briefed drivers, daily check-ins to your family. The whole protocol is published on the Safety page — read it before you decide anything.

Every day’s route is planned with known shelters along it, your phone carries the official alert app, and the decision to pause a day is ours — made early, without drama. Most alerts in the west pass without incident; we follow the protocol every time anyway.

Your contract states it plainly: dates move or money returns — your choice. If a journey must shorten while underway, unspent days are refunded.

It can matter enormously. Under martial law, male Ukrainian citizens aged 18–60 are generally not permitted to leave the country — even lifelong residents of Canada or the US, if they ever held citizenship. We check this in writing with every traveller before anything is booked.

Often, yes. Surname distribution, parish structures and emigration records narrow things down more than families expect. In our reply to your request we tell you honestly whether it is enough — and if it is not, what single document from your attic would change that.

Probably none of them. Names were written down by ear in three empires’ spellings. Matching those distortions against historical gazetteers is the first thing we do — it is what the Village Report is for.

Yes. Galicia’s records are organised by parish and confession — Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish communities each kept books, and we know which archives hold which. Mixed families are normal, not an obstacle.

Honestly: it varies too much to quote a number. Where a family line stayed in the district, we often find them; where whole villages were resettled or emptied, we may not. What we never do is promise relatives to make a sale — you get our real assessment in the first written reply.

Then we say so — ideally in our first reply, before you have paid anything. Roughly one case in ten ends there. If paid research hits an unexpected wall, the contract returns part of the fee.

Three things, and you can check every one of them. First: you never pay the whole amount up front — half on commissioning for research, and on a journey the last quarter falls due only after you are home. Ask that same question wherever else you enquire. Second: our safety protocol is published in full, including the regions we refuse to enter; this is a country at war and we would rather you read our judgement than take it on trust. Third: we turn down cases we believe are hopeless, at the free assessment, and charge nothing for saying so. We also work in six languages — Portuguese and Spanish included, which matters if your family went to Brazil or Argentina rather than Canada.

Because an honest final number depends on your case: whether the village is already identified, how many family lines you want traced, how scattered or damaged the archives are, how many days the journey needs, how many of you travel. The starting prices tell you the order of magnitude honestly; the free assessment turns that into a fixed written figure for your family — with nothing owed if you decide against it.

A journey starts at $9,000 for a couple over 7–10 days and rises with travellers, days and distances. Divided per person per day, that is the ordinary price of a private guided journey in Europe — and for it a private team works only for you: a researcher before you arrive, a driver and car throughout, hotels, meals, insurance with war-risk cover, a translator at every conversation, a photographer on the key days, and one person responsible for every hour. The written quote gives you the exact figure, itemised, before you commit to anything.

Never. Research: half to start, half on delivery. Journeys: 25% deposit, 50% a month before travel, 25% after you are home. If we under-deliver, the contract — not our goodwill — says what comes back to you.

You receive a written contract and an invoice before any money moves, with the legal entity, registration and terms in full. You can verify everything before paying — and we would worry about anyone who asked you not to.

Very possibly — the itinerary bends to you, not the other way around. Shorter days, fewer transfers, a car that reaches the cemetery gate. Where a journey would genuinely be unwise, we say so and film the village for you instead.

For the first hour, perhaps. Then an old woman takes your hands and starts naming your grandfather’s brothers, and the translator can barely keep up. Language has never once been the barrier families feared it would be.

Please bring them. Families of four to eight travel at a lower cost per person, and the village day lands differently when three generations stand at the same gate.

Journeys run May through September and planning takes four to six months: research first, then dates, then logistics. For a summer journey, write to us the previous autumn or winter.