Originally posted by Lugulbanda:

Originally posted by Brew:

...and i got tired, cuz it now takes hours to walk to that places, because they are so far and i sunk so many ships and stuff otw traveling to them.

Why not use portals to make exploration more accessible and less punishing if you do die and need to get back to that point?

On caves, I've found them but they aren't in every mountain; as others have suggested, put your seed into the mapper to see where they are in your world so you at least know which way to go to find them.