I miss those days when you could just grab your feedback and head into the bushes looking for minarets, pragmatics and whatever else you might snob upon.
Like no special security arrangement or overtaking, it is just you and your curiosity with the excitement of not knowing what you will find. You could enter a village you would have never been to, meet complete strangers, greet them and start asking questions about the rocks and the land and people would welcome you.
Someone might point you towards the inn, another person would tell you where to find the particular rock and before you know it. You are sitting with people you have never met before, laughing and sharing stories.
You went there looking for minerals and ended up learning about the people and their culture too.
That was part of the beauty of exploration.