Hello Professor:
It is certainly possible that some (or all) of your travel expenses could be tax-deductible, as you describe them. In order to determine that for yourself, however, using your own unique circumstances, we would respectfully refer to read IRS Publication 463 (Travel . . . expenses); and in particular Pages 7, 8, and 9, where travel outside of the United States is discussed in detail. Here is a courtesy link to that document:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf
If you ultimately determine that you have deductible travel expenses (and for which you didn't receive reimbursement from your university or other organization), then how you enter them on your tax return (and in the TurboTax program) will depend on how your report your corresponding income. If it is via ordinary W-2 wage income, then any unreimbursed (yet allowable) travel expenses, are considered unreimbursed job expenses, and thus deducted on Form 1040 Schedule A (itemized deductions). If you instead report your income on Form 1040 Schedule C, for self-employment, then the travel deduction, if any, is a direct deduction on the Schedule C itself.
If you have further
questions, encounter any difficulties, or just want to speak with a live tax
expert who can walk you through your mechanical TurboTax entries (including the ability to
screen-share with your computer), please feel free to contact us. We
would be happy to help you (and as a paying customer, the call is free to
you). Here is a link where you can create a support ticket and reach us:
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact/
Thank you for asking this important question, and we wish you good luck with your future academic activities.
