By 12 I would sometimes (through choice, or because I'd missed the daily bus) walk 4 miles to school along country roads, before cellphones were a thing.

I'd also go camping, alone or with friends, in the middle of nowhere, with my parents only knowing very roughly where I was (e.g. "we're camping on such-and-such estate, near the area with the wild boars" :)

Now, as a parent, I keep catching myself being a helicopter parent, and hate myself for it! Nothing catastrophic happened to me or my siblings, or anyone else I knew of. So I don't even know why I act this way now.