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Well, your vision of the Druid is a little bit narrow.
A Druid, in Pathfinder/D&D, is essentially a priest (or priest-in-training) to the gods of Nature. That doesn't mean he has to be dedicated to a specific patch of woods - it means an overall reverence for nature.
Now, why would any religious figure go out adventuring? Well, we need to look at Clerics in that same equation to come up with an answer. You'll notice that both the Cleric and the Druid have 3/4 BAB, a fairly lengthy set of weapon proficiencies, and armor familiarity. That suggests that these are not "stay at home and tend to their flock" clergy, but instead that they are holy warriors. (And yes, the Paladin is more focused on the Holy Warrior part, but Clerics and Druids are still quite battle capable.)
So, the adventuring Druid isn't the "stay at home and watch over his woods" type. The adventuring Druid is the "Go out and find threats to the natural world and eliminate them before they can actually disrupt nature."
Well, that sounds a lot like undead and fiends and other unnatural monstrosities. Exactly the sort of thing that adventurers seek out and try to eliminate. I mean, if I'm a holy person who wants to eliminate undead from Golarion, I'm going to feel a lot better doing it with a wizard and a fighter and a thief at my back than I would doing it alone. And sure, that maybe means along the way I help them out with eliminating a Goblin tribe that is menacing a village. But isn't that what friends do for each other?
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Me, I was on a personal journey to see the whole sky of Golarion. I stopped into a town to stock up on supplies, then got caught up in some sort of end-of-the-world prophesy. Now I'm trying to get back to my own sky (and planet) with the only other people I know in this strange, other world. They're not so bad, and it's nice to have other people to talk to for a change.
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Taluv is a (originally) half-elven reincarnated druid, a somewhat schismatic follower of the Green Faith. He originally journeyed from his farm in the hinterlands of Korvosa to find his kidnapped sister and wreak vengeance upon her kidnappers. After these were accomplished, he felt a debt to the other adventurers who aided his search, as without them he would likely have failed. Ergo, he decided to aid them in their endeavors until such time as he felt the debt repaid. In the course of this, he's learned much about how life is experienced from different perspectives, so the journey has become a motive unto itself.
Getting to crash his own funeral as a naked kitsune was an added bonus.
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It is probably fair to say that most Druids don't adventure. What you are missing is that most of EVERYONE doesn't adventure.
Most wizards study in libraries, they don't adventure. Most fighters are guards and soldiers, they don't adventure. Most rogues stay in cities and do crime, they don't adventure. Most clerics work in temples and worship their deity, they don't adventure.
Why any given character is different from the normal non-adventuring populace will be fairly unique that that person and the campaign they are participating in. The reasons are pretty much limitless, and may or may not relate at all to the character class they have.
Druids adventure to exp grind, because I'm not very subtle at removing obstructions to Lady Brigh's form of Nature.
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Depends on the composition of the group me thinks, example of (likely an evil party) Blight Druid, Necromancer, Cleric of Urgathoa, and A Weapon Master
They mesh quite well, and certainly would travel together all over...now...granted it is very likely not to help the world but to enjoy everything the world has to offer and beat those that offend them down.
But it would be a group with a druid that would enjoy traveling me thinks.
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Generally speaking, I see most Druids adventuring as a form of self-discovery and learning. Some stay in one biome and master it. Others travel (some more than others) to reach a fuller understanding of Golarion, and how it's biosphere functions individually and as a whole. They get their power directly from their reverence of nature, not just from nature deities. The first world fuels their powers. Yes, some have patron deities but their magic is not pulled from that deity.
Of course, others have more unique callings. Some that have patron deities are called out into the world to use their powers. Like a Nature Fand Druid were reveres battle, and happens to worship Gorum. The God of Iron calls him out from his Circle to take up the weapons of man, and show them the true face of warfare, with all the ferocity of Nature behind each strike.
"Power. It is always there, all around you. Just waiting to pounce.
Do you need to manipulate the wolf in order to get it to leave its bush and jump on the hare? No- you simply show it that the hare is there to be pounced on. You don't need the fancy tricks of the wizards or brutalize it with the force of will of sorcerers. You just need to give it the incentive to move on your behalf.
In order to use the power of nature, you must understand its balance. But that balance is based upon flowing forces that often sit waiting, biding their time while building up pressure until they are ready to burst like an erupting volcano. The only thing you need to do is give them the chance to spring forth upon your enemies. "
...oh, wait. We were talking about Druid adventurers, rather than villains. Still, this little speech can be an example for someone that chooses to use as a means of power, rather than simply devoting themselves to sitting in the woods. Such a druid would still be interested in balance- the same way that the king is interested in whether the source of rivers continue flowing to the crops.
It is possible to look at nature as a collection of independent actors and forces following their own impulses rather than seeking the balance of the whole. "Balance" is achieved because the system contains enough varying actors in order for them to come to an equilibrium. So, why should you abandon your own desires? You would be robbing the world of your drive and actions, which might better serve the whole by counteracting another's effects.
'Why tell the wolf to not pounce on the hare? Just to protect a single small animal? If he does not eat the hare, then the hares will over populate and eat up the food. So let him feed his hunger."
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My Druid in the KingMaker AP is adventuring so he can found New Sarkoris for all his brethren who lost their nation when the Worldwound swallowed it. He's also there to remind the party not to slaughter creatures/humanoids living in the woods purely because they want to expand their city state.
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There ain't no rest for the wickermen.
Menhirs don't grow on trees.
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Nature is everywhere. That bleeping raccoon that keeps knocking over your trash and spreading it everywhere. Part of nature.
Those seagulls that crap all over your newly shined transport, nature. The birds in your backyard, nature. Druids cover all sorts of nature. There are those who keep to a single forest and protect it. But there are druids for different sorts of critter. There are druids for different environments. It's like any class, there isn't really a "one size fits all".
My last druid adventured because it was a primitive world and food moves around a lot.
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My Druid in the KingMaker AP is adventuring so he can found New Sarkoris for all his brethren who lost their nation when the Worldwound swallowed it. He's also there to remind the party not to slaughter creatures/humanoids living in the woods purely because they want to expand their city state.
*puts down the fireball* >.>
"Because you rove where the grass grows, everywhere it can."
My blight druid felt compelled to go out into the world and rid it of the evil thing called society. Oh, and there's some crazy person out there summoning demons or whatever that are seeking to destroy the world I'm trying to "save". So, they'll also need to be stopped.
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I don't see how that's a problem for you. It's not like you aren't associating with Evil-leaning extraplanar entities weak to cold iron or that you don't have an aversion to the material keeping the sun from ripping apart the atmosphere.My blight druid felt compelled to go out into the world and rid it of the evil thing called society. Oh, and there's some crazy person out there summoning demons or whatever that are seeking to destroy the world I'm trying to "save". So, they'll also need to be stopped.
I'm NE not CE. I want to reshape the world so that it fits my vision of perfection. It's completely unacceptable for someone else to reshape the world so that it fits their vision of perfection even if superficially they are similar visions. :)
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My first druid was sold by her drunk husband, abused, burned down the house to escape, was eventually press ganged by pirates, and decided to kept sailing to be free and hoping to find her husband for revenge.
My current druid sought adventure as a youth but ended up stranded on an island for 50+ years and wants to go home to remember who he was/is. He doesnt yet know a volcano destroyed it.
I think my wife's last druid adventured out of friendship and respect for her companions.
My first and only druid was in Eberron, his motive for adventuring was to locate and, if possible, neutralize forces hostile to the existence of the world.
Forgot this when I first posted: The first druid I ever played was in 2E. She had nowhere to go after her caregiver died, so it was a good a way as any to find her place in the world. Sometimes there really isn't much inertia to overcome when coming up with a reason to adventure.
Because of wizards. When guided down a good path, they can bring about greatness. But more concerning is what they do when spurred down darker alleys. See Nex and Geb, powerful warlords whose fights created a wild magic desert of destruction.
So much nature destroyed because 2 wizards went down the wrong path. Adventure with wizards to help steer them towards a brighter future where they can help the natural world and not break it.