It’s probably safe to say you got into this industry because you love travelling. But have you ever stopped to think about why you just can’t get enough of it?
Sure, some people “catch” the travel bug on their first trip away, and collect passport stamps for the next few years.
But for others, travel is a lifelong pursuit, a constant sense of itchy feet that’s insatiable.
For these people their love of travel was congenital – embedded in their DNA – and they never really had a choice.
Well, that’s according to a growing body of scientific literature that supports the thesis that some of us have a gene that predisposes us to travel the world indefinitely, constantly searching for new lands to explore, new cultures to understand, and new passport stamps to collect.
That gene’s name is DRD4, aka the “wanderlust gene,” and people with it show an increased desire to “explore new places, ideas, foods, relationships, drugs, or sexual opportunities; and generally embrace movement, change, and adventure.”
Or in other words, the DRD4 bearers are genetically pre-disposed to travel.
According to scientists and numerous studies (including a study by David Dobbs of National Geographic), migratory populations that travelled furthest from Africa (where humans first originated) have a higher rate of this gene compared to sedentary population groups who have stayed in the same region for most of their existence.
Even though the gene is only found in about 20 recent of the human population world-wide, studies have found that there is a higher prevalence of this gene in regions of the globe where travel has been encouraged in its past – such as in Australia.
The fact that Australia has a long and varied history of migration (for most of us, our forefathers were all immigrants) may account for our love of travel down under.
It may also explain why the Australian travel industry is the best in the world – it’s made up of people who literally have travel in their genes!
But having the gene is not just all sunshine and rainbows.
According to another study, people who bear the wanderlust gene don’t just show a predisposition to exhibit positive, explorative characters – they are also likely to act out of control at times and behave irrationally.
But hey – no one’s perfect!