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 $45 (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
It’s a wrap! Although we’re not usually big city people, we truly believe Tokyo…the biggest metropolis on the planet of 37 million…should be on every traveler’s list. This fascinating, futuristic and other world is a thrill for the senses and the mind in every way possible, with an abundance of
Night Six: Staying in a Ryokan An absolute must on any Japanese itinerary should be staying in a ryokan, which is exactly what we did after returning from Snow Monkey Land. And although we had stayed in one the night before in Yamanouchi, we were also excited to know they
Arriving to Tokyo & the Battle of Jet Lag In mid-February 2024, the day came for us to leap the pond…again. But, this time we were westward bound just in time to leave US election coverage behind for a year. Shucks. You may not recognize the badasses we were wearing
Cold Monkeys We’ll never forget the day when we first saw a photo of fuzzy little rosy-faced monkeys without tails basking in a pool of piping water. It was years ago in some travel magazine, or book, and quickly gained a well-deserved spot on both of our “60 by 60
Crossing the Border from Bolivia to Argentina To gallivant across the border from Bolivia back into Argentina, we had two choices. Take the ridiculously overpriced night bus for $48/each or piece meal (bus-boat-local bus-bus) it for $37 in total. Naturally, what do you think we decided? And of course, our
Most people don’t know this, but we’ve always said IF we ever move back to the States, it would very likely be to New Mexico. We adore the bright sunny skies, the cooler red rock desert landscapes, the Wild West vibes, and the genuine diversity of its people. We’ve now found
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!
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