Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

You just have to be within range. You don't have to sit there and it doesn't have to be done in a single session. You can farm crops, smelt ore, cook, sort chests, use the obliterator, cut and plant trees. make charcoal, build a lodge, add a room to a lodge, do some interior decorating and all the other stuff you put off.

When I do a new start the first thing I do is build the pen. The pen is in 2 sections so I can lure 2 boars, one on each side. When I have a boar on each side is when I build the lodge and they tame while I'm building. Taming pauses when I have to go chop more trees but it starts back up again when I return and resume building.

It sounds very entertaining but I didn't have to do any of that.
I had to go exploring with my friends, searching for iron or some other item in other places.
In the other hand you can't always capture the animals near your base where you have everything you mention. Instead, you often have to trap away from your base.