I think the whole 'figure out what floats your boat' part is really important.
Absolutely. For me, competition aerobatics, rallies (aerial photo recognition along a set route - a once-a-month Tuesday evening activity at our club) and I got involved in a Dutch charity that aims to let chronically or terminally ill children be a pilot for a day.
My last significant x-country was two years ago, I think. Landing at Tempelhof was great fun, but the hours required to get there became boring after a while.