Growing up Meg and I had a lot of strange unexplained experiences and stories. As a result when we moved to TN we decided to try our hand at Paranormal Investigations. So first we went to the Crescent Hotel in Arkansas and Waverly Hills in Louisville.
Both were fantastic experiences so we added some equipment and went out to Shiloh and Vicksburg.
Having had success and really enjoying the investigations we decided that we were going to continue and take a step up by going to a location that we could really deep dive in. So we booked a night at a house in Hartford City, Indiana which had been featured in the tv show Paranormal Lockdown. The episode had really stuck in our minds and the location was very intriguing. So we began researching the home and taking the stories we had heard and evidence we had seen from other investigators and matching them with newspapers and public/historic records.
Afterwards we looked for local groups that might be willing to take new members but didn't have much luck.
Then we booked two tickets to a public investigation at Historic and Haunted Octagon Hall in Franklin Kentucky. There we were talking with a couple who had shirts for Paducah Paranormal. We asked about how they found and joined a group and they said they didn't they just made their own. So we took their advice and decided to make our own group.
The name Travelers made perfect sense. We love road trips and exploring different locations. Not only that but with a Paranormal Investigation we are talking about interacting with the spirits who lived in the past. Travelers are looking for connections and experiences with the world around them with an openness and curiosity for the world. And that is what we hope to do as we figuratively travel through place and time.
We know that we will never have a video, picture, or recording that will convince a skeptic but that isn't our goal. Our goal is to learn about the people who lived before us and the locations they visited. I want to understand how or why we are able to communicate with them and what was life like for them.
Now that we had a name and a goal next we needed a symbol. Meg took care of that combining our Irish and Italian heritage and her love of folklore. She started with the Ash Tree, the tree of Life in Norse Mythology. Under the Ash Tree is Pulcinella a figure of duality in Italian folklore. He is holding a red pepper to ward off the evil eye in one hand and a lucky four leaf clover in the other. At his feet is a hedgehog which symbolizes good luck and a guide. Finally in the bark of the tree are a series of numbers. The numbers are from smorfia the use of number analysis in dreams to tell the future and, very commonly in Naples, play the lotto. The first number is 85 which stands for the souls in purgatory, next 48 is the dead man who speaks, and finally we wanted to put 42 as a nod to Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy but it also means coffee which really is perfect because after an all night investigation coffee is the first thing I want.
With our name and symbol ready we started the year off by going to a Haunted Playground and Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.
One day we didn't have plans so we went to Historic Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville to walk around and carry recorders and take some photos of the old cemetery.
Our first big investigation this year was in Independence, Missouri when we traveled to the Vaile Mansion. Which was the first time I filled out paperwork under the group name Travelers.
We also stopped at a small cemetery in Hopkinsville to visit the grave of Edgar Cayce.
While talking to a friend who has a podcast called Ed DIE Horror and Paranormal Podcast he pointed out that starting up social media would be easier now rather than later. So that felt like the next logical step and we did just that.
