I think it's fair to say patterns can form. A soul might keep returning to the same places and same "material" things if there's some sort of unfinished business. I think I had some very unresolved issues in my most recent past life, so I don't think it's a coincidence that I'm similar to who I used to be back then. I was a mixed-race Brazilian back then, I died young, now I'm a mixed-race Argentine living far away from that continent entirely. Had a Brazilian great-great-grandfather who was born in São Paulo, which is exactly where my past self was from. I feel I inherited a lot of traits (both physical and otherwise) from a close friend who played a large role in that past life, too, and part of my unresolved issues had to do with this person. So, little call backs like that, I think. I feel like if I'm to reincarnate again after this life, if I hypothetically resolve everything I'm supposed to resolve, maybe my next life might be even further away. Might come back as a Swede or something!