It is an interesting thought thinking that perhaps mankind's entire history of exploration can be likened to an insect trying to escape a jar. I feel at times that I also want to escape the jar and head off into the heavens.
When I was a child, I had similar dreams as you did when it comes to space exploration and travel. My favorite thing to do was to attempt to construct a virtual reality "Tunnel" where I put a blanket over me and the TV when I played the super nintendo game, Star Fox.
Once I actually ran into a man pushing an odd looking chair down the road, and when I asked him what it was, he said it was a virtual reality machine he built. He let me try it out and I was hooked. This was in the mid nineties and he must have been a genius.
I've never tried phychadelic drugs, although I do spend a lot of time in my head thinking about all the possibilites of the spiritual world, as well as the limits of our physical one.
One last thing is I would love to find out where they have a float machine. I am interested in experiencing that when I have the chance.
Floating was life changing for me. Don't pass it up if you have a chance to try it out. You really need to be in there a minimum of 2 hours to get the full effect. It will seem to pass much faster.