I have an absolutely (lovely) deranged friend who has been playing through FF14 aetheryte-less. In the beginning, since one of our friends pestered her to grab her aetherytes, out of spite she made the decision she will go through the entirety of the game WITHOUT AETHERYTES. She's in Shadowbringers now. She doesn't even have the teleportation menu UNLOCKED. She takes public transport wherever possible. If that's not an option, she walks. There are quests that have you attune to aetherytes, but these haven't unlocked the teleportation menu for her. When she dies, she spawns back in Uldah which is a huge bother, but because her spite is more important to her than her time, she will LITERALLY WALK TO A DIFFERENT WORLD INSTEAD OF JUST UNLOCKING THE TELEPORTATION FEATURE.