One way that the expeditions of Cartier and Hudson were different from most earlier voyages of discovery is that they were not primarily motivated by the search for a direct sea route to Asia. Cartier and Hudson were both searching for a Northwest Passage, a sea route that would connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and allow for direct trade with Asia. This made their expeditions more exploratory in nature, as they were searching for a new and unknown route rather than following a known one.