My parents instilled a love of travel in me at an early age - though we road-tripped as much as we flew, regardless I found being in a new place a totally thrilling experience. They've always been big on avoiding the major tourist sights and trying to experience true local culture as much as possible, a travel philosophy I have maintained to this day. I did eventually get tired of the road trips, though, and prefer to fly to my destinations now (and, having exhausted most of of NA's sights, had to expand my boundaries a little...)
I didn't have much opportunity to go beyond NA on a regular basis until grad school, which is when I started lurking around FT searching for deals and tips (took my Dad to Paris - our favourite city - on the BA mistake fare back in 2003). During grad school I'd hit *S regularly, and now I fly 40-80k/year as a professional academic with a side career in documentary television. While I do miss my home and husband while on the road, the excitement of new places and new experiences is too much to pass up!