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Do you have an insatiable wanderlust, an incurable urge to seek out what lies beyond your horizon, or a restlessness for discovery? It’s not FOMO driving these feelings, pushing you to travel and explore your world. The answer might lie in your genes! An estimated 20% of humans have an actual “explorer gene” embedded within their DNA. The good news is you don’t need genetic testing to confirm if you possess this gene. If you, like us, have the nagging curiosity to explore your environment then you very likely test positive for the Explorer Gene too.

After many years trying to hopelessly suppress our explorer genes, in 2018 we finally gave in to them, sold or gave away our possessions, left behind our careers, and set out with our new homes on our backs. We spent years planning and saving like mad to prepare for our leap to become fully nomadic. Along the way we’ve discovered financial independence, countless connections to people and places, and have fallen in love with home-free slow travel.

The Explorer Genes blog is the story of our unique journey, with quirky snapshots of our life slowmading the globe on a $50 (combined) budget per day. We love to geek out and write about all the fun insights and facts we uncover, make history not boring, and share obscure or off-beat discoveries as we go. We are also culture hounds, avid hikers and walkers, and try to seek out adventure on a budget whenever and wherever possible. We truly believe that travel isn’t simply what you read in guidebooks, or is something found only in a lists of “must do’s”, “must see’s”, or “top ten’s.” Instead, we create a by-the-seat-of-our-pants itinerary that comes from slow travel, meeting and living with locals, and finding wondrous and off-beat travel opportunities when we can.

– Mandy & Greg Chase

Working for the Wine at a South Island Roadside Hotel, NZ

Volunteering at a Roadside Hotel To save cash in price gouging New Zealand we had to have a similar approach as we did for Australia…which involved a fair amount of last minute planning so we could be as flexible as possible for pop-up vehicle relocations and housesits. And in the meantime, we were able to […]

July 3, 2025

A Housesit in the Wonderland of Wanaka, NZ

Two cats, Some Rest, and a Helluva View During our time volunteering in Beaumont, a six-day pop-up catsit in Wanaka delightfully showed itself on Trusted Housesitters…and we got it!! Wanaka is a stunning lakeside town one hour north of Queenstown, folded delicately in the Southern Alps. It’s popular with tourists for its activities and dynamic views. […]

July 2, 2025

South of the South Island Road Trip, including Milford Sound

Day One: Wanaka to Queenstown to Milford Sound From Wanaka, we took a substantially priced bus ($20/each) for a one-hour ride back to the airport in Queenstown, where we were to pick up a four-night car rental, which we had scheduled a couple weeks before for the bargain price of $25/day through Omega Rental Cars. […]

July 1, 2025

A Road Trip through Middle Earth: Queenstown to Christchurch

Day One: Arrowtown to Lindis Pass Hotel (1.5 hours driving) The Best Preserved Town in NZ: Arrowtown New Zealand is not exactly known for its picturesque villages that exude charm like other destinations around the world. However, there is one gold mining town, founded in the 1860s during the Otago Gold Rush, that has managed […]

June 30, 2025

Mueller Hut Hike

Doing the Hooker Valley Track gave us our first glimpse of the majestic Mt. Cook/Aoraki, but to truly soak in the beauty of New Zealand’s Southern Alps and the entire Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, you have to climb a mountain. Perched 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) up nearby Mt. Ollivier lies one of the most incredible […]

June 29, 2025

A Quick Cruise through Christchurch, New Zealand

Before we would depart on our third and final road trip in NZ, we had three nights to sleep in a real bed and relax a bit in Christchurch. By this time, however, we were already growing quite fatigued of the fast travel we’d been under for the previous two months. While in Christchurch, we […]

June 28, 2025

Want to explore by specific destination? This map displays every country we have visited since becoming nomadic in 2018. It’s color coded with green colored countries linking to anything we’ve written on them. And, all those uncolored countries… well, those are all our upcoming adventures; so stay tuned as we color them green!

In our country wraps series, we summarize the upsides and downsides of our time in a country, breaking down expenses, sharing insights, and offering general impressions to help you plan your own adventures.