To be fair, I'm car-lite, given that my wife has a car, and I can occasionally abscond with it if she's not looking. But those moments are rare, because she works several miles away and with a schedule that doesn't always mesh with mine. So sometimes I can make it work, but the thing I miss the most is partaking in the entertainment options of the neighboring cities/towns. There are two music venues and one movie theater in particular that I enjoy but seldom visit. The center of one town is 20 miles away, the other is 35. Since the entertainment seldom wraps up before midnight, it would require cycling until 2 or 4 in the morning, and, for some venues, through some rough neighborhoods. On a warm night, with good weather, when I have no reason to be up in the morning, I might consider it, but generally I forgo an event if I can't get my wife's car.
But it's not all negative. As a result of sticking closer to home, I've become more in tune with my city has to offer. Most local acts that play the neighboring cities will end up playing mine as well. National acts that play a venue 30 miles away are unlikely to then play my city, but sometimes they do on their next pass through the area. And, at any rate, I've learned that I much prefer to see a local act where I can stand by the stage and actually see the performers to a huge act that I have to watch from a distance or even on a screen. And I've become more familiar with the local music scene, which is pretty good.
In terms of canoeing/kayaking: I picked up one of these:
https://www.klymit.com/litewater-dinghy.html Not great compared to other options, but cheap, and it floats. I haven't used it much yet, but I've used it enough to know it works. I've been contemplating a trip where I bike with my raft and an inner tube to the nearby river, put my bike on the raft, me on the tube, and float down to another take out point, from which I can bike home. If that proves feasible, then it becomes even better than a car-based trip, because with a car, you generally have to find a way back to your starting point. There are other portable watercraft of better quality, or at least comfort, but the price goes up quickly.