The story structures distance scaling config exists and should be something you're made aware of, even if you're playing blind.
Spending hours running on an elk through terrain may be enjoyable for some, but for me it was the single most unpleasant experience I've had to date as a returning player that prefers light config modifications to a wilderness survival world.
"less focus on exploration and building" still has the estimated 2.5 hours travel time default, and not knowing if you're properly prepared for further engagements as you get led along the story sites might lead you to decide to make a return trip to prepare more which can really exacerbate a mismatch between the player's expectations, preferences, and the default settings of this config
