personally I think that what you've described ("the other lifestyle") is somewhat easier because that's a mainstream.
It's very difficult to chose different ways because it requires more effort but I'm not judging people who chose mainstream, it's an easy way to flow.
Once you start embarking on something deeper, the more you do the more you realize how "deep and higher" you can go and the more it feels unreal (in comparison to the mainstream) which is really funny because that domain is the real one (if we are able to feel and "see" it)