ive been playing this game since 2011 when i was in middle school and im still coming back to it. im sinking hours into it after work while my puppy sleeps next to my desk and my gf is working evening shift. its such a cozy game and reminds me of when i spent all day after school playing MC and other games w friends. its not just nostalgia tho, its just such a cute game that can be whatever the player wants. after all this time, i still derive so much joy from exploring a new world, building a sprawling estate, spelunking, and even just mining. even tho MC doesnt track ur hours played, im certain its my most played game
just wanted to share that i love this game 
I've been occasionally dipping into Minecraft since 2011 and it's the exploration that keeps me coming back. Despite essentially just being randomly generated noise, I find Minecraft's landscapes really pretty, especially with a nice shader installed and it's always a great feeling when you crest a hill to discover a unique canyon or valley on the other side.
I started a new world in September after not playing the game for at least a year and to keep exploration more interesting and fresh this time around I installed Alex's Mobs, Aquaculture, Exotic Birds and mods that add every losing mob vote mob as well as the mobs from Minecraft Earth to make the world feel more alive. The way Alex's Mobs distributes appropriate animal species to each biome makes a huge difference in immersion, even if I have some issues with some of its more unbalanced monster mobs.
I also installed a couple of mods that added more randomly generated structures and dungeons though I basically had to go in and reduce the rates in which they spawned when it felt like the same graveyard got generated multiple times in one square kilometer. If anyone has more suggestions for more dungeon/ruin/structure mods that aren't too crazy, I'd be happy to hear them
The only regret I have with my current world is that I discovered a mod that changes world generation into continents and islands separated by water as opposed to Minecraft's usual endlessly stretching patchy landmass when I had already played the world for over a month
It's funny but I'm personally the opposite, I find the underground really fascinating for the purpose of exploration.
I like caves too but I don't like how infinitely sprawling they are. I get kind of anxious when I think I've mapped out a cave system only to discover an opening leading to another one that's 10 times larger, which leads to 10 other cave systems, which open to 10 more cave systems, etc
All of Yungs structure mods are good in case you aren't aware.
I'm also a fan of BetterEnd (moreso than BetterNether but it's worth checking out both)
Fabric Seasons is a relatively cool new mod that adds a lot to exploration as well.
There seem to be a few mods with "Seasons" in the title, which one do you mean?
This one? https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/serene-seasons
Ah sorry should have linked it directly the first time:
https://modrinth.com/mod/fabric-seasons
Also you'll want to snag the Seasons: XYZ Compatibility mods for things like farmers delight, terralith, croptopia, etc to make the integration feel better
Oh well. Serene Seasons looks to do similar things though.
What mod is that? I would absolutely love to map out different continents and archipelagos
I believe this one is the one I looked at:
https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/continents
I tried installing it mid playthrough but you get really harsh borders where the generation changes. I guess I could go edit them in an editor but that would take hours.