Apparently, distance doesn’t matter to people who have always wanted to connect to a long-lost relative.

Take for example the case of Malou Caise, who had travelled from Toronto all the way to the Philippines just to find her family after typhoon Haiyan devastated Tacloban. Malou’s case is a sad story, for the reunion she had with her surviving family members were shrouded with death and suffering.

But while the realities of reconnecting with family aren’t always happy, there are those that are quite inspiring, particularly when the reunion happened the most unusual of ways.

Take for example the story of a girl who discovered that she had a long-lost half sister when she read a memoir titled, Wild. The book’s author, Cheryl Strayed, described her father in the book, and the unnamed girl realized that Strayed was describing her father. She emailed Strayed and while the two are yet to meet, there’s a very good chance that the two will see each other someday. After all, there’s always a longing to see family, especially those who have been estranged from an early age.

Another story documents two online bingo buddies who had been playing together for years, but didn’t realize their connection until just recently. Long-lost sisters Elaine Walker and Jackie Green found each other through the help of an heir-hunting organization called Finders, and a little bit of Facebook searching. When they realized their relationship, the two travelled to meet each other.

Reunions of long-lost families can be extremely heart-warming moments that there’s now a TV series dedicated them. The aptly named Long Lost Family show helps long-lost family members, who usually have no idea that they’re related, reconnect. According to the show’s producers, they receive tens of thousands of applications from people who are desperate to find someone, which is proof that people will always be longing for a connection with family.

There are many perks to travelling but going the extra mile just to see someone whom you haven’t seen for a long time will always yield the best rewards.