One of the cool things about living in a cast country indeed, Australia is the same.
Doing day trips or longer, is one of my great enjoyments and I'm working towards a year or so off to drive around Australia in my four wheel drive. No set destination. I'll wait for your road trip posts...
When I was a kid we used to go on them all the time. Pack a picnic lunch and find a roadside park. I'd love to do that more with my wife, but the weekends are just too short and adulting is hard work. Most weekends my wife is happy just to nap most of the day!
It's difficult to schedule in sometimes, life is so busy these days, but I try balance it out and days like this are important to me as they help centre me and that means better productivity. I know what you mean though, being an adult is bloody time consuming. 😏