As a young teenager growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was an avid radio listener. One evening around 1970, I found myself tuned to KSL 1160 in Salt Lake City. That didn't make any sense, so I told my father about it. He said, "Sure, AM travels farther at night." Like it was nothing at all. He was a ham operator and knew about these things.
Well, it was something, at least to my way of thinking, so I started exploring the dial. Really exploring. Listened to stations taking turns emerging from the static. Found I could hear Denver, Seattle, Canada, Spanish that I assumed was from Mexico, Wolfman Jack on XERB, everything imaginable. I was DXing, although I didn't know at the time that it had a name. I thought I was the only one doing this, and other kids thought I was weird.
My father bought me a book of radio stations that included the more powerful ones in the United States, and I begun a hunt for elusive stations starting with W. Soon I got one, either WHO in Des Moines or WWL in New Orleans, I don't recall which. That led to WSL, and a host of others. The ultimate catche was patiently listening to a blank spot on the dial where WABC New York was supposed to be. I heard a faint carrier, but it didn't grow strong enough to hear. A couple night later, I finally heard the WABC call letters! New York from the San Francisco area.
The radio? Just a stock Heathkit portable. To this day, I'm convinced it's patience and attitude more than the equipment. Of course a Beverage with an SDR will bring in the transoceanic catches, but a lot can be heard with a full sized portable. You just have to love the sound of the airwaves.