I am in the same position as you: fav game, cannot get enough of it, started on version 1.19.
I invested in this game because I wanted something "more realistic" and i saw a comment that I could try terafermacraft (or whatever - a minecraft mod) or Vintage Story. When I played VS for the first time, I remember thinking.... "ahhhh minecraft for adults".
The sense of progression is real. One world on 30 days per month, at 100 hours is no where near completed.
The emotions are real: Finding Tin or Iron is a massive achievement. Bears literally scare the hell out of me.
As it stands now, VS is my most played offline game of all time.