It's often hard to tell the difference between her being inquisitive and checking stuff out, versus her trying to get away. A few cues that can help: sticking the neck out or periscoping usually means looking around; pulling back or keeping the head close to the body or close to the ground means scared/nervous. Lots of tongue flicking usually means curious/inquisitive. Also keep an eye on how fast your snake is breathing. If it's holding still and its breathing is slower, it's probably just chilling out. If it's holding still and its breathing is faster, it's probably scared and hoping it doesn't get noticed if it doesn't move. Although breathing will still be faster while the snake is active than while it's sleeping (duh). Its behavior outside the cage might also vary quite a bit with temperature. They're slower when it's cooler, so that might make some individuals more skittish when they're cold because they will be less equipped to escape a predator.
It's certainly normal for snakes to be inquisitive about the world around when they're out of their cages. Even a large, enriched cage with lots of furnishings has a limited number of places to go and not much to look at that's any distance away. The tubs that babies often live in have even less. So it's natural that the snake would be either inquisitive or freaked out or some of both when it's outside.
Generally my snake tries to climb UP stuff if he's out for a prowl, and just tries to go DOWN or get under stuff if he's trying to get away (although when he's in the mood to explore, he goes up and down and everywhere). Comfortable, well-adjusted animals generally have established routines at least until the routine changes. And individual ball pythons are still all different. As you get to know yours better, you'll be able to better read its behavior. They're not as pet-rock-ish as they're made out to be.
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