I went on the 2025 Fall China Ties 21yr+ Flagship tour as an adoptee, and it was fantastic! The staff from beginning to end made the trip easy to navigate, the activities were fun, traveling alongside the group was wonderful, and the entire trip expanding my mindset and worldview. I come away with a better connection to self and to my birth country.
So glad to hear this, especially your connection to self and birth country 💜
Emily B2025.10.29
This has beaten any expectation I had in a trip like this. Beyond efficiency, knowledge, understanding what we as a group and individually needed.
Tanya and Ben Kaanta understood what we needed, even before we knew. Adjusting constantly with nothing but grace, humor and empathy. Lemon12: Mr. Kim, and his team, Mr. Jin (so funny and affordable) and Mr. Ian, so patient and all so welcoming. Nothing we asked was 'odd'. All custom requests were promptly scheduled.
I cannot recommend this TIES program enough. ❤️❤️💜💜
Thank you soon much!!!! It was amazing having you on the trip and being able to share on this experience with you.
Cindee Martin-Tellis2025.10.29
My husband found this Korean Adoptee tour program and suggested I should do this as my first trip back to Korea. I was adopted when I was 5 years old and not been back till now. Tanya and Ben were great. They made sure for us to see different areas of Korea. It was so nice to have everything planned even having someone pick and take us to the airport. They made this trip very memorable. I made lifetime friends and truly grateful for this trip and having my husband join me.
Thank you Tanya and Ben for everything!
Cindee and Michael!
Thank you so much for trusting us with your first trip back and such an honor for us.
Donna Kidwell2025.08.06
The Korea 2025 experience exceeded my expectations! I traveled with my daughter and my two adult adopted grandchildren. The 14 day trip was our first introduction to South Korea. I had been fortunate to have hosted Korean guests for my church’s partnership so I was looking forward to sharing this experience my family. I strongly recommend the Flagship trip if you have the time. We were fortunate to travel with 40 members of our group who were absolutely agreeable and always considerate of others. We had a wide range of ages and adult adoptees as well as their children. The preparation and details before the trip really helped us to navigate on the days when we were on our own as well as the Kako Connection with others on the trip. We were so fortunate that everything went smoothly from the flights to all the excursions, the amazing staff, guides and Sarah‘s pre-travel information and preparation. This was an experience with many enlightening memories to last a lifetime. My heart is full with gratitude for the details and scheduling that was carefully structured by the thoughtful and caring staff who provided not only cultural experiences but also chat time as well as offering personal counseling for those emotional moments that one can experience on meeting with the past.
If you're even remotely considering this program, take the leap—you won’t regret it. Experiencing the country firsthand, without the stress of planning every detail, lets you fully immerse yourself in the culture and savor meaningful time with your adoptee and loved ones. It’s a rare opportunity to connect deeply, reflect intentionally, and grow alongside others on the same journey. And yes—you’ll gain lifelong friendships along the way.
It’s hard to put in words exactly how grateful I am for Ties, and the role the program played in making our family’s journey to China truly remarkable. Starting with the amazing people on the Ties team - from the Program Director to every single local bus driver and tour guide, you can feel and see that everyone involved in the operation cares deeply about their role in helping adoptees explore their roots and process their unique experience! Then there is the incredible thought and care Ties put into developing the itinerary. I was impressed by how they manage so many logistics for the whole group and blown away that the same attention to detail was provided to every family on our trip as we each headed to separate provinces to spend time in the places of origin for our adoptees! The structure of the program also supports connectivity and community building among the adoptees and within the group of supportive adults such as “talk times” that create a safe place for people to process together the joys, challenges, and everything else, with the guidance of a highly knowledgeable staff person who has their own adoption story. I could go on and on but instead I will simply say that if you are readying this review because you are considering participating in a trip to help your adoptee experience their home country I highly recommend you go with Ties as I can’t imagine how any organization could do it better, and the value of experiencing this journey as part of a group is truly invaluable!
Thank you so much for sharing, this means so much to us.
Mark Gusho2025.07.20
We looked into MANY different heritage tours and sooo happy we chose The Ties. Unconditional recommendation! The connections and bonds fostered by Autumn and her team truly made this an unforgettable family journey.
Thanks so much for trusting us with your family journey. Glad you made so many connections and bonds.
Beth Fleming2025.07.20
Fantastic organization! Wonderful itinerary, incredible staff and lots of memories! The adoptees as well as the families connect and chat is a must have!
This a well planned trip ! SARAH KURTZAHN works her hardest to provide a trip to remember! This is a trip of a lifetime! I went alone without family and all the staff made sure I was included and my needs were met! I would do this trip a thousand times over!
We are so happy to hear you felt supported with this trip. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
Brent Brown2025.07.19
We traveled as a 4 person family to Korea as my wife is an adoptee. The trip exceeded all our expectations, including our 12 and 14 year old boys. The TIES staff create an amazing community that is difficult to communicate in words - my wife and family were supported throughout the trip, including very emotional times when my wife learned of her adoption history. The TIES staff also created unique experiences for participants - for example staff with personal connections to other areas of the country where an adoptee also had a family connection arranged travel and provided personal excursions with them. This customization was very impressive and appreciated. As the vacation planner in my family, I could not have created an experience like this. The trip was expensive, but the value was worth well more than the dollars we paid. The hotels, buses, etc. were all VERY nice and we felt safe the entire trip....safe enough that we let our 14 year old go out late at night with other teenagers to walk through markets. I could not recommend TIES enough, they are an amazing organization. We will absolutely look for another travel opportunity with them for a return heritage trip to Korea. Thank you TIES!!
We are so thrilled you were able to have this experience with your family. Thank you so much for placing your trust in us.
Jane Gandy2025.07.19
Our trip to Kazakhstan with the Ties Adoption travel program was the best travel program I have ever done. Tanya and her team were amazing and meticulous in their planning of our trip and we couldn’t be more pleased. I would love to go back again with them and would recommend Ties Adoption Travel to anyone considering traveling to their birth country. ❤️
Hi Jane,
Thank you so much for trusting us with this important journey for you and your family. It was so awesome being able to experience this with you.
Jen decker2025.07.16
Adoption heritage travel is an investment and I did my research before I landed on TIES. This experience was so much more than I had even hoped for. The TIES staff is extremely professional and specializes in adoptee heritage travel. I am so impressed with their program and after spending 2 weeks in country with them I am even more convinced that this is the best. Their attention to detail, their focus on the adoptee experience and ability to navigate multiple families and their individual needs. When you look at heritage travel you want trips lead by adoptees and professionals who travel with you not just a tour guide! You will not be disappointed.
Hi Jen,
Thank you so much for sharing and we are so happy you had this experience. Being adoptees and loved ones ourselves, it's so important this program is supportive to the adoptee and their loved ones. Thank you again for trusting us.
Steve Rutkowski2025.07.16
China Ties has exceeded all my expectations.
When I started looking in to this adventure, I was weary of all the Heritage Travel websites, all promising the world, but would they deliver?
I liked China Ties since they were the only organization that I found that offered “in province” trips with sourced and validated guides. This was appealing to me since this was the point of our trip, experience the “where am I from” question.
Talking and working with Autumn was fantastic. She had details for every single question I had and if she didn’t have it off the cuff, she would let me know and have an answer within 24 hours. There were suggestions for airfare agents, travel insurance, Visa application, etc…
Autumn had the entire process from applying to the program to returning home bullet pointed to exact detail. (I mean, she can’t really know what Mother Nature is going to do) But, like a pro, she was able to massage the schedule so the weather was more conducive to the experience instead of “just come what may”.
This trip far exceeded my highest expectations. From the moment we arrived until the moment we were on our way from Beijing, Autumn and her support staff was there for whatever reason(and I mean whatever) I needed.
For Autumn, TK, James, Eric, Kai, Wally, Jeff, Lisa, all the drivers and those behind the scenes I don’t even know about: you all are Rock Stars in my eyes!
Thank you so much for sharing. We agree that Autumn is amazing. She and the China Ties Team are amazing and I'm so glad you all were able to experience China with them, and an honor to share this experience with you all.
Andy Rusnak2025.07.15
The 2025 China ties program was the trip of a lifetime for our family! All details flawlessly executed and thought out. Ties and adjunct staff were caring and thoughtful. Cultural immersion was exceptional. All details of the adoptee experience were carefully planned out and explained. This is the only way to take a heritage trip in my experience. Autumn was one of the best program leaders that I have ever worked with. Can’t say enough about these people and this trip. 10 of 10!!
Hi! We had a wonderful time traveling with Ties to reconnect with the birth family of my daughter in Kazakhstan! The staff is amazing, supportive, nice, and well-organized! They thought about every details. Everything ran smoothly. The places we have visited were well-chosen and very interesting. The in-province visit was organized the way we wanted it to be. I highly recommend Ties to everyone wanting to travel to their birth country ! Well done, Ties ! 😊
Thank you so much! It was so wonderful to meet you all and experience this with you in Kazakhstan!
E V 12025.07.12
Our family had an amazing experience traveling with the Korean Ties team this summer. Sarah, Tara, Sarah Ann, Matt, and Jackie, were caring , responsive, and professional. The team’s practical experience and attention to detail was phenomenal. They treated us like family and helped us make the most of our visit. We are truly grateful for their kindness and support on our journey.
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