In Summary Time Spent: 9 nights Money Spent: $378 or $42/day USD/two people. This breaks down to: Our itinerary: Favorite place: Stockholm Would we return? Yes. Likely to see the same friends again, and we’d also consider housesits in Stockholm and in other parts of the country. What We Did Right What We Should Have Done […]
Read MoreDo you have an insatiable wanderlust, an incurable urge to seek out what lies beyond your horizon, or a restless desire for discovery? It’s not FOMO driving you to travel and explore the world around you. The answer might lie in your genes!
An estimated 20% of humans carry an actual “explorer gene” tucked into their DNA. The good news? You don’t need genetic testing to find out if you have it. If you share our curiosity to explore our world, 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
Our Latest Posts
Our Latest Posts
Our Return to Kulavik, Sweden with the Ek Family
To Gothenburg from Stockholm From Stockholm, unfortunately and shockingly, not a single Bla Bla car ride was advertised to head to Sweden’s second biggest city of Gothenburg. The platform apparently exists in the country but few are using it. When I asked my Swedish friend about it and explained the concept, her response was… “uh I […]
Read More
Finding the Good Life in Sweet Stockholm, Sweden
From Ljubljana to Stockholm After a week of rapid and costly travel through Slovenia, we headed to cooler climates and to discover new and old friends up north in Scandinavia for the next month! We were also eager for full stomach satiation in the airport lounges after a week of grab-and-go groceries and strict budgeteering. […]
Read More
Slovenia: It’s a Wrap!
In Summary… Our first trip to Slovenia was purposefully short. Not because we think the country is unworthy of tons of exploration, but because Slovenia is expensive for us. Yes, Western, Central and now even parts of Eastern Europe are all expensive too. Duh. But the difference is that in Slovenia, we knew we didn’t […]
Read More
Magical Mountains, Medieval Vibes, and Plans Gone Sideways: Slovenia
To Kranj, Slovenia from Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina The wallet suck of Slovenia started the day we left Bosnia & Herzegovina. From Banja Luka, there seemed to be plenty of Bla Bla cars heading north toward Zagreb (Croatia) or Ljubljana (Slovenia) so we didn’t think we’d have any trouble getting one. Wrong! We sent in a […]
Read More
Bosnia & Herzegovina: It’s a Wrap!
In Summary On our 2019 first visit to B&H, we barreled through the popular tourist destinations of Mostar, Trebinje and Sarajevo in 10 days. This year, we returned to Sarajevo for five weeks, and chose it as our annual Medical Month destination, having put it on our list of “Known Knowns.” Turns out, that wasn’t […]
Read More
Destinations
Destinations
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!
[display-map id="4505"]
It's a Wrap!
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.
Sweden: It’s a Wrap!
In Summary Time Spent: 9 nights Money Spent: $378 or $42/day USD/two people. This breaks down to: Our itinerary: Favorite place: Stockholm Would we return? Yes. Likely to see the same friends again, and we’d also consider housesits in Stockholm and...
Read MoreSlovenia: It’s a Wrap!
In Summary… Our first trip to Slovenia was purposefully short. Not because we think the country is unworthy of tons of exploration, but because Slovenia is expensive for us. Yes, Western, Central and now even parts of Eastern Europe are...
Read More
Bosnia & Herzegovina: It’s a Wrap!
In Summary On our 2019 first visit to B&H, we barreled through the popular tourist destinations of Mostar, Trebinje and Sarajevo in 10 days. This year, we returned to Sarajevo for five weeks, and chose it as our annual Medical...
Read More
Keep Updated!
Keep Updated!
Referral Links... Help Us AND Help You
Referral Links... Help Us AND Help You
Get 25% off a new Trusted House Sitters membership!
