To be clear, if we wouldn't have used points, it would have been significantly more expensive due to having to pay airfare. However I had a couple of buddies who messaged me saying, "What are you spending, like 50K on this trip?" and were stunned when I told them the price, the thinking that many people have is that something like a safari is super expensive.

To some, 10K on a trip is a lot. I get that and am fortunate to consider that affordable, and to be clear we didnt do that kind of stuff when we were in our 30's or even early 40's. But to your point, travel can often be done much less expensively than many people (who don't travel) think.