Talking of bad experiences, a dd who once spent 6 months as a student in StPetersburg, told us of a railway journey to (IIRC) Estonia. She said that at the border, the Russian officials were so downright unpleasant and scarily aggressive while checking their documents, she said she almost began to understand how Jews must have felt, trying to leave Germany in the 30s.
By contrast, at the other border, the officials were, ‘Welcome to Estonia! May we see your passports, please?’
I do often wish I felt more like travelling, but apart from living abroad for many years, dh and I have done a great deal in the past, inc. a quite a lot of long haul to off-the-usual-tourist-track places. So I don’t feel I’ve missed out.
OTOH a widowed friend of my age, whose husband refused for 20 odd years to go anywhere if they couldn’t take the dogs, still has very itchy feet - she’d go almost anywhere at the drop of a hat.