That problem is one I'm firmly coming to grips with. I'm actually considering looking into school in another country where its cheaper and they have more need, but I'm afraid that nearing 30 is too old for most institutions (especially on the pay part). I've yet to see almost any resources or help for people later in life wanting to go to school. I'm enjoying my debt-free living and not living anywhere near the level to what I make but I'm afraid of losing out on opportunities in the future, especially with my want to travel extensively.

Hopefully you'll see this. You may have the best luck by actually trying to get a master's degree, qualifying for it with your 12 years of experience. Normally that would be considered enough. They will probably make you do a "qualifying year" of 4th year courses, but those are the most interesting anyway. This cuts the time from no-degree to degree to 2 years from 4. Especially because master's programmes often have a light course load, you can also reasonably do it part time (allowing you to work at the same time). Finally, if you manage to do very well in your "qualifying" courses, you can often find more age-appropriate financial assistance in grad school than undergrad. Hope that helps!

That is great to hear - thank you very much! Did some research and it looks possible, though not particularly likely. My 12 years of experience isn't directly in programming unfortunately - I work in video games as a PM/assistant producer before moving to code about 5 years ago.