This post seems a little disingenuous, but it's fun so I'll byte.
First, i can't help but think the original poster has time to kill at specific times of the day. For example when i winter tour i have a lot of time after sundown. I solve this by riding after dark, getting up earlier, riding to exhaust myself, and a good campfire to wind down the evening. I usually cook a big meal after i stop for the day. Only meal i do cook. Having a campfire is its own thing but i will often review photos from the day, write and post, read email, catch up on forums and news and review route options. Sometimes i just ride all night just for kicks. Especially if it's a full moon.
That said people tour like they live. No two tour alike. Some do only a few miles in a day, some many. Some plan every nights stop in advance. Some stealth camp wherever they end up at the end of the day. Some follow set routes. Some improvise.
Personally i identify with the original poster. I like to go fast and light. In the summer my gear and bike will often weigh less then 30 pounds. It's not necessarily about speed. It's more about freedom. I'll plot out a destination 100 miles or so away. Research and review routes and then try and forget about the map and simply enjoy the ride giving myself permission to take a right turn because a road looks interesting or stop and strike up a conversation. Often ending up with 120 or 130 miles in a day.
I love to stop at small town local eateries for breakfast and lunch. Try to avoid fast food places. I love to stop at grocery stores in the afternoon/evening. Beyond my minimalist kit and minimalist goals i love to improvise. I always seem to run into fascinating people. It seems touring bikes just seem to attract them. Touring bikes just seem to be the ultimate ice breaker. Everyone has had some adventure or dreams of one.
I have rolled into a town knowing noone and met whole communities of artists, photogs, small business people, adventure sport enthusiasts and people from all walks of life. I share my experiences and what i've learned with them and i love it when they share what they love with me, especially when that something is a skill or craft or comes from a life style i've never been exposed to before. Because i love the freedom and adventure i am very receptive to the unexpected. I have rolled into a new town and stayed for 48 hours meeting dozens of new fast friends who've given me instant access to their lives, trades, hobbies, passions.
It's all full of irony. I love the isolation so much, like biking in winter snowstorms, but i love rolling into new towns and cities where i know noone and ending up doing some unexpected activity. I love to ride, yet the most memorable experiences happen off the bike. Just about the only thing i don't like is sitting on my butt and doing nothing while on tour.
I started off touring hard charging. The miles were the thing, and i still love crossing whole states in a day. moving swiftly when i want is part ofthe fun. However, touring for me has pealed away layers of my personality, reservations and misconceptions like an onion. I feel less anxious about societal pressures, pride, vanities. I can ride into an evening or into a town not with worries about where i'll sleep or eat or what sort of people or situations I'll run into, but just enjoying the moment, the doing, the going, the conversations or the quiet. It's blissful freedom and then when the weather turns bad or everything goes to hell then its truly brilliant. The unexpected challenges to rise to. Mountains to climb.
I have recently even found that i can enjoy the challenges and wide open expanses of the plains states i once thought would be so boring.
My journey is both inward and outward. To each their own. Based on the original post i might suggest first exhausting your original desires both literally and figuratively. Ride more miles. Ride until you can barely be bothered to setup your shelter. Ride until you're a zombie then ride some more. Eventually though that will build up endorphins and break down inhibitions to the point you'll try other things. Who knows what they might be. Maybe you'll go further into isolated places, maybe you'll learn the joys of living in your own head, maybe you'll take up geology or botany, maybe life will just happen unexpectedly when you stop worrying about ways to kill time and start realizing there is so much to see and do that you can't possibly fit it all in.