You will find that most pilots are absurdly conservative and tame, and for them a trip across the Channel to Calais is the equivalent of an epic adventure. However, any pilot with a bit of get-up-and-go will soon find that you can do rather more than this. I flew down from Rotterdam to Tunisia to tour the desert a bit this summer, and when I was planning it was told I was crazy; by a pilot who I am fairly sure had never flown more than 50 miles from base!
If you ignore the more cowardly and pessimistic lot, you'll find that there is still a huge amount of potential for fun with GA. I've flown coast to coast across the USA, flown through Europe to Africa, and all of it VFR and with very little hassle. In 500+ hours, I have only been delayed by weather a handful of time.