When you're the Chief of Staff to the Majority Whip, apparently everyone and their brother is just itching to pay thousands of dollars to fly you around the world to "educate" you.  When said Majority Whip is Tom DeLay, those trips total more than $85,000 of other peoples' money:

That's from a Washington Post article referencing a report from the Center for Public Integrity and other nonprofit groups.  The full report can be found here, and contains a wealth of information about who Hirschmann travelled with, and on who's dime, as well as details on other Congressional aides who have racked up thousands of dollars worth of travel, including Brian Gaston, the current Chief of Staff to Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO).