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[Ariosto]

Talking over how things are going is important; playing D&D is a social affair!

If your players are enjoying the looser approach, then it might be worthwhile to see whether your comfort level increases with experience. I suggest that because, in the long run, a campaign can offer the same pleasures as a series of linear scenarios -- and more besides.

It is possible to start with a more constrained situation and open it up gradually.

You have hit on a key element in the interactions with NPCs. I prefer not to go into much detail as to PC biographies prior to play, but a bit of that could help in providing "hooks" for planned adventures. The town is a pretty geographically bound nexus of relationships. Family and old friends (and enemies) might more easily be worked in wherever the PCs go.

In designing or adapting "modules", an important adjustment is not to focus on particular events meant to happen to the PCs -- and above all not to count on the players responding in any particular way. Save the effort you would otherwise put into such set-ups, or invest it instead in sketching more environments with "lives of their own".

The idea is that even if a "set" is moved "off stage", into a section in the referee's binder (or equivalent), the places and people can be revisited. Ideally, the players eventually will form long-term relationships with some of those -- all the stronger for having been developed naturally.

Leaving it up to the players to choose how they spend their time (rather than "pacing" it for them) introduces an element of skill. Skills tend to take some practice to develop.

The campaign approach to play benefits from a somewhat different (and perhaps less easily produced) arrangement than is common today. My impression (not having played any) is that MMORPGs are closer to the old model. Instead of having a small, set group of players meeting at regular intervals -- like the cast of a TV show -- there is a large pool of players forming teams for specific purposes and undertaking game sessions to play out those expeditions.

That tends greatly to reduce in-session dithering, waffling and intra-party disagreement. The practical limitations (and compensating advantages!) of the "TV show" model are worthy of serious consideration. They have, I think, contributed greatly to the decline of the traditional campaign model. Different approaches were adopted in large part because they were found better suited to circumstances.

Game mastering an RPG is always a bit of work, and good players should expect to do some work as well -- not merely to be entertained. That said, the work itself should be fun! Adjust your methods to suit the needs of your group, including yourself.