Some of you might have realised by now that certain people are far more adventurous than others. Some people love travelling so much that they would leave the places where they grew up behind just to explore the whole world.

Meanwhile, certain people don’t care to leave their homes at all. Indeed, these are two different extremes but these opposing planes do exist.

Some of you cannot fathom the opposite group at all. You might be thinking “why aren’t they more interested in travelling?” or “why do these people insist on going so far away from home?”.

Well, the answer is in the genes.

According to the Culture Trip, science has explained that the presence of DRD4-7R in our genes is what drives us to want to travel. So much so that this dopamine receptor is nicknamed the ‘wanderlust gene’.

The 7R variant in the DRD4 gene is what triggers the brain’s dopamine levels which affects our behaviour and motivation to want to learn and explore.

Biologist Dawn Maslar from Kaplan University studies about dopamine, hormones and brains. From her findings, she believes that the 7R variant and the urge to travel has got a high correlation.

She said,

“The wanderlust gene is so powerful. It appears that the DRD4 gene is more predominant in the travelling type of person.

“Dopamine is the liking hormone, and when you want to get more, it doesn’t sate you – you get hooked.”

Basically, it makes us feel restless and curious about various things such as taking risks, travelling and experiencing new places. So if you’re one of those people who always love to try new things out, you definitely have got the 7R variant in you.

Don’t feel so left out either because about 20% of the human population have got this.

Dawn also shared that a larger amount of people with the DRD4-7R genes can be linked back to the ancestors’ travelling behaviour as well.

“We see a greater portion of the DRD4-7R gene in South and North Americans, at least the ones descended from Europeans who came over to settle it, which makes sense.”

So, if your forefathers are avid travellers, you might just have it in your genes too!

Regardless of whether you really have the 7R variant in you or not, it’s still fun to travel – be it long or short distance. There are so many special deals available from various airlines and hotels so we should totally take advantage of them.