On the noticeboard in the tower at Thruxton:
"Learning HOW to fly takes about 45 hours. Learning WHEN to fly takes a lifetime".
I think it's significant that the more experienced people are on the whole telling you to take it slowly. I remember being a very new PPL, determined not to turn into one of those people who never flew beyond their own circuit. So six weeks after I got my licence I flew from Welshpool to Oxford to meet a friend for lunch. On the way back I got lost, got found three miles from Birmingham Airport in marginal vis, and directed to the M54 by a friendly Air Traffic Controller. A good learning experience. But all sorts of disasters could have happened, and someone told me afterwards that if I was going to fly round the country, I should take a more experienced pilot along. Who was right? There's no one answer to that. I think you need to make haste slowly; bearing in mind you're inexperienced, and it's an alien environment up there. Listen to everyone, but ultimately listen to your own feelings on this. If you never push yourself, you'll never go anywhere. But if you overdo it, it'll be dangerous, and you won't enjoy it - which is after all what it's all about.