He [uncle] expected us to tell him exactly where we were going and when we were due back
Indeed, I entirely agree. But, uncle is not "society". It's great that friends and family are there to keep tabs on each other. My wife likes me to tell here where I'm going when I fly, and I appreciate that. If I cannot, I'll have the SPOT on, and she knows to look for it. My pilot buddies have a pretty good idea where to look for me. If I have no one to tell, I
can file a flight plan.
The option is always there to notify people of your trip, and to be "followed" so to speak. How nice that aviation has this system in place, and there are regulations as to it's use. For some flights, it is
required.
However, in my opinion, for bimbling around, I feel no greater obligation to society on the whole, to notify them of a flight more than I would if I were to walk, ride, drive or sail to that same place. If society has put a rule in place in that respect, I accept that, and will follow it. But the expectation that every person venturing out will notify "society" is asking too much of society to track all of that.
Society cannot afford the cost to track every person who chooses to venture out - what makes people flying more an object of such oversight?
I recall years ago, taking a non aviation passenger for a hundred mile flight over remote winter territory. Of course, I filed a flight plan, airport to airport. The destination airport was a few miles beyond the lakeside town at which we were to meet the others. While flying over the others at the lake shore, I could see them, and they needed our help. I landed on the ice, and we provided the required help - and I got distracted, and forgot to close the flight plan - totally my fault.
So I had not arrived at the airport, and the calls start going out. My team of flying buddies got the call, as one of them was the "notify" person (before wife). He first called the police in the town I was visiting, and told them to look for a yellow plane on the ice at the waterfront. Sure enough, there I was, problem (that I had caused) solved.
I had a totally mea culpa talk with flight services afterword. During that talk, I learned that nothing in their way of doing things would have triggered anyone to ask if the plane had landed on the town's ice instead of the airport. They were about to spend a lot of money launching SAR aircraft, who would have found me safely on the ice. Sometimes the family/friends traking is actually better than society's system - ('cause they were getting ready to fly too!).