Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip, along with their brood of five kids, are in the middle of a family trip to South Korea, where Joanna's mother Nan Stevens is from.
The Magnolia Network founder has shared several snippets of her trip, having partaken in traditional ceremonies with their children and dealt with severe bouts of jet lag.
However, one of the photographs she shared that stood out featured her alongside her two sisters, Mary Kay and Teresa, and their mom standing under a gorgeous cherry blossom tree.
© InstagramWhile Joanna and Chip have both spent the last few decades of their lives in Waco, Texas, where they live with their family and have grown their business, they've indicated more of an interest in exploring their roots.
Joanna, 44, in particular, has been vocal about her past, having opened up about getting bullied for her Korean heritage as a child and having a negative outlook on her culture at first.
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"It was deeply personal because that was half of my story," she told People in November. "I realized if this isn't accepted, maybe I need to hide it and play more into the other side of who I am."
The Magnolia founder has shared several updates from her trip
"My early memories, a lot of the things that come up are the moments where I switched off and I thought to myself, 'Oh, I can't be this,' or 'I shouldn't be this' or this won't be approved. Like I won't get the approval, you know, that you want as a kid."
After graduating and moving to New York, however, she experienced a new lease on life, a moment she relived when she visited Koreatown that same month for the first time in 20 years, this time with her daughters.
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"I was 21 the first time I walked through Koreatown. I'd just moved to NYC and was missing home, and everything about these streets—the food, the smells, the language—reminded me of my mom. It was the first time I can remember truly feeling connected to a culture I grew up believing I needed to hide," Joanna captioned a video she posted then, which you can watch below.
"It was beautiful to watch people live out the fullness of their story. Finally, I was seeing the beauty of being unique and realized that what made me different was actually the best part about me."
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