Let's Make Destination Funerals a Thing

You're going to better place...why can't we?

Part of my job as a death doula is to work with funeral directors and help people plan their funerals or memorial services. These days, there are more options than ever before.

Home funerals and living funerals are rising in popularity. Be buried in a shroud and help feed the trees. Or cremated and put inside some jewelry.

Human composting is becoming legal all over the country.

One of my favorite ideas is also rather new: destination funerals.

Back in My Little Town

I was born in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, right outside Scranton. My Irish great-grandparents settled in, and their children and children's children stayed for decades. My parents moved away in the 1970s. Afterward, slowly but surely, other aunts, uncles, and cousins migrated.

Now we are all over the place.

For a while, we returned to Scranton for weddings and reunions. But people started getting married elsewhere, and reunions happen online. Most of us only go back now for wakes and funerals.

A few years ago, while gathering for a …