migratory gene

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I was browsing through this article* and was intrigued by the mention of a migratory gene. It's also known as DRD4 which has been mentioned in WP before because they've linked it with ADHD. However this article picks up on research that links it to migration:

This was of interest to me because i have a very very strong sense of moving on. When i was younger i would just leave the house and start walking. as a teenager, as soon as it became legal to do so, i started traveling by plane internationally. I finished college (transfering and changing majors abruptly) but when offered a job i declined so that i could keep moving. I get jobs easily but go crazy after about a year and need to find something different. I'm not attracted to people like me. I form intense relationships easily because i have gathered so many different experiences (intense because i know i won't have time for the proper getting-to-know-you process and yeah, i'm incapable of small talk), but i cannot hold on to any of my friendships very long. (although i'm very loyal to the connections i do make)

I've been reading many posts from aspies and auties that imply that they spend a lot of time alone at home. i can't imagine a more horrifying prospect. I would definitely be on a myriad of psychiatric drugs if i had to do so.

So ... is there anyone who can relate???


* can't link so it's the Mar 2009 issue of Discover Magazine, They Don't Make Homo Sapiens Like They Used To

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I have ADHD so I can relate pretty well to this and a bit of what you wrote.

My brother mentioned this migratory gene. He is an avid traveler. He lives in Asia teaching English and travels about 3 months out of the year. My nephew also has the travel bug. He is now working NGO in Kabul and plans to move to Sri Lanka. I would say we are all ADD and "different". I admire both of them but I'm not secure enough to travel. I do need frequent mental stimulation though. The farthest back I can trace my roots are to the year 1000 in Normandy. Apparently my way back ancestors were Vikings ( there's that migratory gene) that settled there in the 800's and then came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. The ancestor in the year 1000 was the father of the guy who got land in Yorkshire with William the C. My more recent ancestors were early settlers in the Americas in the 1600's. One was on the second expedition to Jamestown. This is from my mother's 30 year obsession with genealogy research. I can see this migratory gene runs in my family. When my brother visits he paces and gesticulates and can't wait to start traveling again.

I do like hiking, riding a bike, and walking places. I think it's got more to do with moving than with going someplace though.

If it's quiet, one place is as good as another to me. It's my interests that migrate. I will never know what I am fascinated with next... I think I like it that way.

I don't really spend much time, mentally, at my physical location anyway.