Roots Guide

Roots Guide is an educational social inclusion project taking the form of an interactive travel guidebook. It is based on the ‘Travel Faraway at Home’ concept developed in 2015 by Pocket Stories, a non-profit organisation which aims to broaden our understanding of human migration and celebrate cultural diversity through storytelling projects. Our printed guidebook is for people like you, who live in the Netherlands and want to get to know their country and themselves in a new way. Through our interactive guidebook, we invite you to undertake both reflective inner and outer journeys by revisiting what you think you know about life in the Netherlands, starting on your very own doorstep. Sharing personal stories builds powerful connections between strangers – they trigger our curiosity to explore new places and revisit well-known ones with fresh eyes. Through in-depth visual and personal stories, the guidebook welcomes you into the lives of more than 34 migrants living in the Netherlands. Drawing on their own diverse perspectives and experiences, they’ll guide you to the places that have touched and shaped them. And, along the way, you’ll get reflection questions and travel activities specially designed to shed new light on the wonder, weirdness, struggles and joy that are part of establishing roots and forging community in this country we all call home, regardless of whether we have lived here for a few months or our whole lives. Roots Guide is the result of the collective dedication, creativity and support of more than 250 people, including the guides, volunteers, donors, beta testers, colleagues, friends, neighbors and family. The initiative is led by our core team made up of Ingi Mehus, Rehab Eldalil, Daan Wurpel, Meghann Ormond and Hamzah Kashash.