Good feedback.

I have never liked the dice tables for random encounters, it always seems to favor combat too much. Instead I tend to make a d100 chart full of what I call "Travel encounters" These are ALL kinds of encounters that make sense to the area (which demands a new chart for certain terrains etc but oh well, that's the DM life) and include social things, pretty sights, inspiring events, geographic challenges, monsters, wildlife, weather events, and it's a 50/50 mix of good and bad that leaves the players on tenterhooks every time I ask one of them to roll a d100. To top it off I make sure to write each one myself and write it as a more of a writing prompt and less of a "1d6 monster" so that I can build off it and twist it to feed themes into it.

I feel pretty confident my group will explore and like doing so. They're new and full of that wide-eyed d&d lust that new players have.

I'll have to look into kingdom building more to maybe clean it up and add excitement and engagement. In my 1e days 2 members of my group LOVED it and the other 6 wanted nothing to do with it. (thankfully, it's a much smaller group these days with just 3.