The Story Behind Trip Chaser
Once upon a time, two future world travelers named Dalene and Pete grew up about 500 km from each other in Alberta, Canada – both had wonderful childhoods filled with love and games played with their families.
They found each other later in life and connected on many things, including their love of games! Their urge to travel the world soon followed. In 2009, they bought a one-way ticket to South America for what they thought would be a one-year backpacking journey. Eight years later, not only did the couple visit 60 countries, but they also racked up accolades along the way for their travel blog, and were even named National Geographic Travellers of the Year in 2014.
They returned to Canada in 2016 when Dalene was diagnosed with leukemia. While she is now cured, the couple remained rooted because of COVID-19, and the idea for Trip Chaser began to unfold.
Two days into pandemic lockdowns, when their marketing clients began to drop off and their free time was suddenly abundant, Dalene and Pete revisited an idea they had held onto for years: to invent a card game related to travel.
Over three years later, here we are! Trip Chaser has been a labour of love, going through multiple iterations and lots of beta testing by family and friends. It provided these two nerds with a creative outlet through some dark times and a result they are super proud of! Not only does it draw on their collective love of games, but also an array of their travel experiences – yes, many of the event cards in the game have actually happened to them. (You might think that a nail-hammering contest in a bar can’t possibly be a real thing, but trust them, it is.) Some other event cards came via mishaps crowd-sourced from their blog readers!
Dalene and Pete are excited to merge their loves of games and travel, and to share it all with you!
Fun Facts!
- Dalene’s favourite card game is Nertz, and she started playing with her extended family at around age 6. She is probably the most feared Nertz player in the family (and if any cousin disagrees with her upon reading this, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED at the next family reunion).
- Pete’s favourite game is Carcassone because it is a simple yet super strategic game (and they both also loved the city when they visited).
- Dalene and Pete are also trivia nerds and have even created a travel trivia website! They are also undefeated at The Office trivia.
- Of the 11 destinations included in Trip Chaser, the founders have visited 6.
- If you ask the founders which of the 60 countries they have visited is their favourite, they will respond with two answers: 1/ We hate that question, and 2/ Türkiye.
Don’t miss out on the Trip Chaser newsletter!
This is what you’ll get:
- A 10% discount code you can use immediately!
- Our ebook entitled: “60 Lessons From 60 Countries Traveled”
- Access to our SUPER SECRET GAMES PAGE
- First look at new products, giveaways, behind-the-scenes info, and more!
When designing Trip Chaser…
A couple of things were particularly important!
Many thanks to friends and family who tested the game and provided valuable feedback! Special shout-outs to Katie M, Geoff, Kaden, Phil, Darby, Sean, Scott, Chantelle, Katie G, and Cailin.
Also, thank you to Tia Jasmin for her exceptional designs and being so stellar to work with.
