I think you’re not only making the right decision, but one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. This one stays with you for a lifetime. I agree with everything you’ve heard and said.All of our local friends here who homeschool typically do around 3 hours a day. Of course their kids are in 3rd and 4th grade, so there is that. She said that she really likes the freedom though because some days they'll learn, but other days they'll go some place to learn such as the zoo, a children's museum, etc.
What finally did it for us (aside from the COVID lockdowns, LGBTQ indoctrination, and CRT bullshit) was when we realized our kids are getting older and we are basically not seeing them 7-8 hours a day (they go to school from 8 AM until 3 PM). I said to my wife, "Wouldn't you rather spend as much time with them as possible when they are young because it's time we will never get back?". She agreed with me and we decided once school is over (in 15 days) we are going to start them on homeschooling. We've done so much research and have so many friends who home school (there's even a large homeschool group in our neighborhood) that it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Lately I've been praying about it non-stop and I have told my wife that I feel like part of what God wants me to do on this earth is exactly that, homeschool our kids. Why else would I have ended up in situation where I work from home and have all this extra time I could devote to them. I told her that perhaps this is a calling from the Lord himself.
And like you said, we can take off whenever we want and go on a vacation, effectively bypassing all the crowds.
If you have the ability to homeschool your kids, I think that it's one of the best decisions you'll ever make. I haven't talked to a single person who homeschools that hasn't told us that they absolutely love it. Everyone I talk to as well has said that after removing their kids from public school that ager 2 weeks of homeschooling they become so much better behaved and mannered.