I should also give credit to a book out at the time, "Arthur Frommer's New World of Travel" in which he says that travel as marketed is way more expensive than it should be, and that there are lots of alternatives for lodgings, transportation, destinations, etc., that can be managed for a lot less money. He then had sections about favorites with that, including mentioning flying as an air courier and favorite countries with lots to see but low land costs. The common thread with the many alternatives is that there was little or no marketing or advertising of them.

At that time there weren't many books like that, travel agents still existed, most tickets were on paper and and if you weren't like the 20-something couple going to (Las Vegas, Orlando, some all-inclusive) you could feel left out based on how travel was structured. EAASY SABRE was just getting started then, accessible via proprietary CompuServe.

Some notable trips:

Ensendada, Mexico to build houses for Mexican families. What stuck out to me was how happy these families are with smaller living spaces and far less stuff. That trip showed me how I can live well on less.

Internship in Taiwan in summer 2006, while I was in school. In addition to working in my field, I also got to experience life in another country. Definitely an eye-opening experience. This trip also gave me the international travel bug and since then I set a goal to travel to other countries.

Trip to Wales for a year of university. Changed pretty much everything in my life from that point forward.

I still remember being dropped off at STL (yes, Lambert Field, that was the way one got from Kansas City to Europe in those days) for the trip with a giant backpack and nothing else.

It was a TWA Lockheed on the outbound...still brings back fond memories anytime I see that distinctive airframe. (Which these days is either at a museum or in some sort of photo/film.)