
I open my DNA reportāand blink.
Iām a what?
When 23andMe , the DNA testing people, offered to help me investigate my ancestral roots and find out where in the world I was fromāat the very least, I expected to find out Iām human.
However, the next line of the report is a lot more reassuring:
āHowever, your Neanderthal ancestry accounts for less than 4% of your overall DNA.ā
More than 96% human! Iāll take it.
In fact, we all have Neanderthal DNA, according to National Geographic:
[quote]Everyone living outside of Africa today has a small amount of Neanderthal in them, carried as a living relic of these ancient encounters. A team of scientists comparing the full genomes of the two species concluded that most Europeans and Asians have between 1 to 2 percent Neanderthal DNA.[/quote]
And, it seems, a few lucky Americans have double the amount of Neanderthal in them. So what does this mean? Am I blessed with some kind of extra-human superpower? The report answers my question for me:
(I donāt think Iām going to be in the next Marvel movie, guys.)
Itās a profound thing to be faced with your ancestors. This is cutting-edge science showing me the faint traces of hundreds of generations stretching into my pastāand crossing half the world in the process.
Modern humans walked out of Africa over 100,000 years ago, and my family line settled in Europe, coexisting with Neanderthals and at some point interbreeding with them.
In other words, Iām an immigrantāand, quite frankly, if you look back far enough, weāre all immigrants.
As someone who has spent his entire adult life wanting deeper connections with the rest of the world, this is music to my ears.
I skip closer to the present.
Like many modern Americans, I am a genetic newcomer to this part of the world. Thereās no contradiction hereāI am 100% a citizen of the United States, born and bred. Genetically speaking, however, Iām 100% European.
I have often felt like I was born European in the body of an American. I guess this proves me right.
The footprints of my ancestors walk all over Europe, just as their impossibly distant ancestors can be tracked south, into Africa.
As a world traveler, I couldnāt be more delighted. These are the results I was hoping for. In every way that counts, I am the genetic result of a lot of travel.
Iām also an immigrantāand thatās worth dwelling on for a minute.
Why Donāt Americans Travel More?
Itās a worrying fact that in 2016, just 36% of Americans held a valid passport, according to the State Departmentās figures. Thatās compared with 60% of Canadians and 75% of Brits and Australians having passports. Weāve since risen to around 45%ābut the question remains. Why are we innately averse to international travel?
Blake Snow lists a number of excellent reasons here at Paste Magazineābut it still hurts to look at the statistics, especially knowing that the American travelers Iāve met in every corner of the world have been just as curious, adventurous and open-minded as those from other countries.
Iād say once weāre out there, weāre just as good at travel as anyone elseāso why donāt more Americans take vacations outside the States?
Maybe the rest of the world feels like too much of a challenge. There are new cultural rules to learn, new ways of living, new languages to speak. The US is vast and thereās so much to seeāand maybe that makes it easy to neglect everything outside it, as if we lived on a different planet…
And maybe we all need a DNA test to put our heads straight.
Every time I leave the United States, Iām leaving my current home behindābut Iām also stepping back into the world that made me. I am the latest member of a huge family of travelers stretching back millions of yearsāand thereās absolutely nothing unusual about that because weāre all members of that family.
Just imagine, all those storiesāall now lost to us, except for the glimpses we can get through the strands of our DNA.
Thanks to these comprehensive (and absolutely fascinating) reports, I now have new reasons to explore parts of the world Iāve spent too little time ināand they even tell me where my existing DNA relatives are living right now.
Literally, cousins I never knew I had.
Dear Americans: The Travel is In Your DNA
If your background is similar to mine, your ancestral roots cross oceans. You would have the most amazing adventures if you chased them (which is what I intend to do, now I know the truth about my heritage.)
Iāve devoted my lifeāand this entire blogāto helping people manifest their dreams of traveling the world and living more passionate and fulfilled lives. So if you need help getting started, youāre in the right place. (Here are some of my best travel tips.)
But before starting to travel, you should decide where to travelāand a DNA test from 23andMe can point you in the right direction.
So, What Happens Next?
Iām genetically Europeanāand now I have a whole new family to get in touch with.
This couldnāt fit into my plans any better since Iāve been looking for a good excuse to explore Europe a bit better. Now I can do it with the help of my family tree, asking all my living relatives about their parents and grandparents, and diving into documentary records to see what I can find…
But for now, 23andMe’s Ancestry Service Ā has presented me with a DNA travel to-do list:
If youāre wondering, Ashkenazi Jews originated in Western Germany and Northern Franceāand their descendants today live mainly in the United States, Israel, and Russia.
That comes from my father’s side. My great-grandparents died in the Holocaust, and my grandparents escaped and settled in Europe sometime in the 1940’s (Austria/Poland and then Italy), before moving to Israel. The rest comes from my mother, though I already know that “British & Irish” really means Scottish & Irish.
In other words, I have the whole of Europe on this listāplus Russia and Israel.
I havenāt worked out the details, or even where to startābut this is already feeling like the mother (and father, and grandfather…) of all travel adventures!
So now I’m left with an even bigger question…where to first?

Any Europeans (or anyone, for that matter) want to chime in with recommendations? Let me know in the comments below!
READ NEXT: Looking Past the Conflict: Meeting My Family in Israel
4 thoughts on “It’s In Your DNA: Why Americans Were Born To Travel”
I’m curious about who your relatives are in in the U.S. on the maternal side. I know your father has a few on his side but I’m not aware of any on my side. And of course the next place you should visit is Ireland (home of living relatives)!
Jeremy, this is really interesting to me. Did you take the $99 test?
I agree Americans (though some never leave their State) often don’t travel much because there is so much in the USA and it is huge. Whereas Brits live on this tiny little island and needed to travel: to trade, stop inbreeding (common with island nations) and conquer the world for their empire š
I actually paid to upgrade because I wanted to know a bit more about my health, but the $99 test is the one that tells you all about your ancestry. I’ll be curious to hear what you find out!
Jeremy, that 123 site is useless unless you live in the USA. I only wanted the Ancestry and their forms are for Americans residing in the States only. I tried to contact them and gave after the 6th very blurry so called Capcha thing.