I've had this conversation before and something interesting is that I think there may be a genetic component here, which can make empathy, in either direction,

I've had this conversation before and something interesting is that I think there may be a genetic component here, which can make empathy, in either direction, somewhat difficult. From my perspective, the question is who wouldn't go on such a voyage? Are you not curious what the universe really looks like? What unknown phenomena or other curiosities are out there? To me this is literally the meaning of life. Intellectual curiosity, challenging yourself, adventure. Not to mention that finding a place where your vessel could settle would mean being able to start an entirely new branch of our species created with the wisdom of and knowledge of a species' existence of efforts beforehand. I think all of these urges played a critical role both in our evolution and our global expansion. Beyond this there are also more material motivations as well. Of course there will be people simply seeking a better life, and a demographic that's yet to be created is those seeking immortality. Relativistic travel enables the possibility of traveling 'into the future'. People throughout time have engaged in all sorts of behavior to try to extend their lives. Relativistic travel is perhaps the most likely to achieve such ends since it would enable access to future technologies. In the future I'd expect to see many of the wealthiest on Earth directing a disproportionate amount of their funds to space technology to this end. This could even be happening in the present, but that'd be beyond the realm of even wild speculation.