Travel was much different for your parents. European travel was actually much more expensive for them, adjusted for inflation. Back then, only rich people casually traveled to Europe (or young kids who stayed in hostels backpacking around). My first trip to Europe was when I was 30, and the cities I visited on that trip are FAR more crowded with tourists now than back then. When I was in college I took a trip to India with a friend who lived there, staying with his family for free and eating cheaply when not at their houses. That flight to India costs the same now as it did 20 years ago, not adjusted for inflation (meaning it is actually much cheaper now).

Going to Europe now is so commonplace for normal people that quaint little towns are overrun with tourists. I have seen flights from LA to Europe for cheaper than flights from LA to Indianapolis.

Conversely, for your parents travel within the US and to Mexico was cheaper then. You could get a flight from Indianapolis to Cancun for $150, with hotels being dirt cheap. Flights to Florida were $100, and nice hotels were $100/night. Nowadays, those flights are 3 times more expensive and the hotels are 5 times more expensive. When I was fresh out of college and middle class, I could travel around the US and to Mexico and Costa Rica pretty cheaply. Nowadays, I can go to Europe for about the same price as going to New York.

Finally, back then people had vacation savings accounts to pay for travel. They would save up all year to take vacations. They would save their Christmas bonuses (which aren't a thing anymore). They didn't have cell phones and rationed out long-distance phone calls. They might only have one car instead of three. They didn't pay for internet. They paid for basic cable, not 5 streaming packages. Their house cost a tenth of what houses cost now. They didn't buy as many new clothes as people do now.