I grew up going to museums and weird tourist destinations. An ossuary made of skeletons in rural Prague? Been there. The tallest bell tower in Germany? Climbed it. The town that invented the Cuckoo clock? It was just down the road from my middle school.
I was raised to explore, to be curious, and to always ask "huh, I wonder why?" and find the answer myself. I believe the best design is based on lived experience.