It's funny I like ADV because it doesn't feel like adrenaline to me. Hard and difficult sure, but if you fall you just kinda get it up again.
That being said my ideal is old dirt roads to and from site, with some more aggressive stuff nearby to push on. There's nothing wrong with riding well below your technical skill to actually take it all in. When I think of my favorite moments it's usually something like the smell of a forest in the morning as it starts heating up. I enjoy the hard stuff, but it's not what comes to mind.