> There isn't a modern equivalent of traveling months away from home to a new land with local natives and trying to live off a strange land with some serious life or death risks.

Sure there is. Just get a good job and save some money for 5 or 10 years. Buy yourself a boat - the biggest one you can afford - a trailer, and some provisions. Drive to the edge of your continent and point the boat out to sea. Keep going until you see land. If you make it to shore without being dashed upon the rocks, your adventure begins.