Exploration can make a nice change of pace. Its a pretty zen activity, just have to adopt the mentality of a sightseer and actually get close to some of the more interesting planets. Also, if you know what stars to jump to, it can be pretty lucrative. A trip of 800LY out and back again netted me 10 million. I had some good fortune, to be sure. Longer trips can really rack it up though. Just be careful about where you jump, else you'll find yourself sandwiched between two stars, watching your ship and all that scan data go up in smoke :( [spoiler]Also, zero your throttle during every jump. Good habit to get into, it'll save you a headache if you jump into a system with a Black Hole/Neutron Star as its entry point...[/spoiler]