Not too long ago, this was a real choice. Back when adventurers were discovering islands in the Pacific, or even North American, there was no certainty they would come back. They were saying good bye to their families, perhaps forever.
All I know is that I’m not that adventuresome. I don’t need to be the first to discover something. I’ll wait until someone else has done it first, and then I’ll do it. I’m more of an early adopter type. I’ve tried being first, and it doesn’t work.
Now, if you are assuming SOT or FTL, you might as well assume time travel, too. So you could go on a trip to somewhere in the rest of the universe and come back in the same era as you left.
Of course, there is time travel—of a sort. If you have kids, and friends that you see only occasionally, you are familiar with the phrase, “how much you’ve grown!” Time has dilated for these people. They are expecting someone who is only a little bit older than when they last saw your kid, but what they get is someone vastly older.
The same thing happens for adults when you go back to a reunion for college or high school, and you find that, suddenly, everyone has turned gray.
So, would I go on an adventure, knowing there was a high probability of not returning? Nope.