IRENE SALTER
Why does travel make us come alive?
What is the science behind our wanderlust?
How can we make every day feel as alive as travel days?
- Tim Cahill, Founding Editor of Outside Magazine
"The book Irene is writing is the book I've been waiting for."
Wanderlust
The Neuroscience Of Why We Travel
I’m a travel-holic. Like oh so many of us, I come alive while traveling. Case in point: two years ago, I whisked my husband, Jason, along with our kids and careers, across five continents, and through a global pandemic on an adventure we named the Salter Gap Year.
But…I am also a PhD neuroscientist.
Despite the fact that I hung up my lab coat ages ago, I wanted to understand my own wanderlust scientifically. Somebody must have written a book about the science of travel, right? I went to the library. Nothing. I tried the bookstore. Nada. I searched Google. Big black hole (naturally).
So…I wrote it.
The surprising thing I figured out in writing this book, in taking a Gap Year, is how to thrive not just on vacation days, but every day. Let me teach you how.
Meet Irene
Irene Salter is a PhD neuroscientist on a real-world quest to help people thrive. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF, where she researched how the brain learns and stays motivated, and a Master's in Psychology from Stanford. Over the course of two award-winning decades as a science educator, she has published in top-tier journals, founded university departments, secured millions in grant funding, and delivered thousands of hours of content.
Today she is a sought-after speaker and leadership coach, delivering over 30 keynotes, workshops, and retreats annually to Fortune 500 companies including Disney and Google, professional associations including SHRM and Rotary International, and community organizations nationwide. In 2025 she reached over 2,000 participants through live and online events. She serves on five boards including the UCSF Graduate Division Advisory Board and the founding team of a new medical school. Her writing spans four published books, research articles in top-tier academic journals, and essays at the intersection of travel and science.
When not writing or coaching, Irene is adventuring — paddleboarding, traveling the world, or crawling through a Dungeons and Dragons tomb. She lives in rural Northern California with her husband, two children, eleven ducks, and one albino king snake.
