I'll admit I read OP and about half the posts, then I just got tired of the judgment. Consumerism, carbon footprint, negative impact to local culture from tourism, etc. PC police in full force.
I think a huge problem in America is bigotry and a lack of understanding of other cultures. One need only look at the republican primaries to see how prevalent it is, and how voracious it is. I find a high correlation between those people I encounter who are excessively anti-Muslim, anti-Latin/Mexico, anti-China, and otherwise xenophobic, and those people whose furthest venture outside the USA has been to Canada or a Caribbean island (if at all). I think if these people had traveled to Jordan to see how generous, peaceful and genuinely nice these people are, they wouldn't think of Muslims as terrorists. I think if these people had traveled to China to see how 80 year olds have to roam the streets collecting garbage to supplement their $16/month government pensions, they wouldn't complain about how they're "stealing all our jobs". And I think if these people had visited Mexico, Central America, or South America and seen how the drug wars (caused by Americans buying drugs) impacted their own countries, they would have less complaints about the few murderers spilling out from there into USA because of an issue our society creates.
Want to rail on excessive anti-mustachian traveling? 1st class flights, 5 star hotels, Michelin star restaurants? Fine, I'll give you that, you're 100% correct that it's consumerism without the material keepsakes. Want to rail on all travel, just cause? Nope, not entertaining that.
I think experiencing other cultures is an integral aspect of being a fully functional human being in a global society, and forgoing that is short-sighted. I can't count the number of times my life has been bettered by travel -- better jobs because interviewers want someone globally minded, better relationships because women find a partner who's experienced the world (especially if it happens to be her home country) to be more attractive, better handle on consumerism seeing how much you already have relative to the rest of the world (anti-Joneses effect). And nobody needs to know I did all my international trips for less than most people assumed the plane ticket costs -- sleeping on trains, crashing in hostels, eating street food, doing my own walking tours, and unabashedly flashing my student ID to get discounted admissions.
And no, 2 trips at 60 is not the same as doing 1 when you're 25. By your mid-30s, you're mostly done forming your opinion of the world, and it's not easy to change your opinions. I could drag a 50 year old bigot through the middle east for a decade, and they'd just be a 60 year old bigot still convinced Muslims are the devil.