Hello linux world,

I have recently entered the linux world because I have always been interested in avoiding the horrible filtering/firewall policies of my university Internet connection.
My original plan was to have a linux server at my home Internet connection that would accept ssh connections and forward my traffic out so that my university is unable to filter and restrict my bandwidth based on my traffic. But then after learning about ssh port forwarding, I realized that I would need additional proxy/socks services running to have the ssh session properly connect and forward the traffic.
When I started fooling around with my linux box here at school, I realized the beauty of N.A.T. and general gateway routing. I have recently set up the linux box as a gateway for my "hidden" internal private host XP machine. I love the simplicity of complete traffic routing/forwarding with this setup.
However, now I am having difficulty with how I would setup a similar N.A.T/routing scheme when the linux box is remote from my XP host. I need suggestions as to the services I could implement to achieve complete traffic forwarding from the linux box out through my home Internet connection. Possible a VPN setup? Or should I stick with ssh tunneling? Please let me know what the most efficient way to accomplish this would be. Thanks.

-Rims