This mentality is why I'm nomadding despite the constant threats of Return to Office. (I'm at Google.)

I spent a dozen years in San Francisco. I know what serves me there and what doesn't. I know that I find day-to-day life there low-key depressing. I know my friends there have largely moved away and/or moved on to the next chapters of their lives. I know it's way too hard to find a suitable romantic partner there.

Kowtowing to the RTO whims would be relegating myself to another year that's probably a lot like the other ones, with the hard parts getting harder with every year lost.

I don't know where my forever home is, but I owe it to myself to figure it out.