There are very little elements in the game which could serve as pointers as to how prepared and geared up a player needs to be in order to progress. In survival games it's something you need to learn yourself, for your own playstyle.

Currently there doesn't seem to be much harm in taking a break and continuing later. I've had the same world going since the beginning and never had any issues with it. In a way it's actually been quite the opposite, provoking me to explore further to discover tar pits and frost caves which couldn't generate on the regions I had explored before those features were implemented.