(2) After posting, I signed up for Proton Mail VPN. It does not have a port forwarding function, and tech support confirmed that, and I received a refund. Do you know of another VPN that does support port triggering? (I will google too).
(3) I have downloaded the TOR browser/app and have turned on that preference in the Core. But there was some problem. I will re-visit that and see what's going on.
1. Re-reading your post, i just realized that you're right. It's not applicable in your case since port >= 1024 isn't available on your router and configuring Bitcoin Core to use port < 1024 isn't possible since it's reserved by system and you need admin permission.
2. I've seen some member recommend Mullvad which support port forwarding with good privacy policy. Their FAQ (https://mullvad.net/en/help/port-forwarding-and-mullvad/) also state it's supported.
3. What exactly did you download? What you need to download is Tor, not Tor Browser. You might want to check this guide, https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Setting_up_a_Tor_hidden_service. But using VPN is easier option and i couldn't find any decent guide for Windows.
No problem, but FYI there's "edit" button.