Is there a “travel gene?” There have been articles written that point to the DRD4-7R gene as being the “wanderlust gene” because of the correlation with increased levels of curiosity and restlessness. Another study went further and linked the gene to human migration and a passion for travel.
If all that is accurate, then, it makes sense that my grandparents had this gene as they migrated from Odessa, Ukraine, to North Dakota. Then, my parents moved from North Dakota to Washington State. Each summer we drove somewhere, be it North Dakota, Colorado, Georgia, New York.
Building on the prior information, there is no doubt that this gene was passed on to me. Any opportunity to travel anywhere was not an opportunity to be wasted, and, it never was. Membership in the Circumnavigators Club (circumnavigated the globe in 2 months) and the Travelers Century Club (visited 100+ countries) attest to my travel gene. But I, like others of my ilk, are never done traveling. There is always one more trip to take; it is in our DNA.