I've worn contacts for ~20 years. I've had gas-permeable 'rigid' contacts, extended-wear (acuvue2 / oasys) contacts (that I nonetheless was advised to remove every night), and recently I've switched to daily / disposable contacts.
The gas-permeable ones were from ye olden times, I don't think most people need to bother with those anymore because materials for soft lenses these days admit much more oxygen. They were also by far the least comfortable.
The extended wear ones were an amazing transition after the previous ones. Barring manufacturing irregularities in any particular contact lens, a few seconds after they're in your eye, you can genuinely forget that they're there. My issue with these was mostly psychological: removing them every night and cleaning them proved to be annoying enough that I would justify just sleeping in them for one night. The second day was much more uncomfortable (dryness mostly). Subsequent days would be miserable, but I seldom made it all the way through day two.
I finally switched to dailies and they are even thinner (read: more comfortable), and it's effortless to take them out and switch to glasses when I'm ready for bed, so I very very seldom end up sleeping in them. (Also, if one happens to fall on the ground or get torn, it's not like you're losing a week's worth of wear on it, you were going to throw it away anyway that night. Just having that peace of mind is nice.) Finally, when traveling, I don't have to pack the travel size contact lens solution and lens case, I just bring however many days' worth of lenses (they come individually packaged). It's been amazing and I recommend it.
If the thought of having something in your eye seems weird, maybe try a trial set. Optometrists (at least all the ones I've used here in the US) will give you a pair of extended wear lenses or roughly a 10-pack of dailies to try out, so that you know how they are before you commit to a year's supply. They'll also generally coach you on inserting/removing. It was awkward for the first month but now it's just a part of my routine.
I've switched to dailies and it's wonderful. I don't normally need them, but they're wonderful for meetings in rooms with 10 foot displays, movies, concerts, etc. Since I don't wear them every day, I can buy a normal 3 months worth (90 pairs) and they'll last me a year. I don't have to worry about keeping them clean, making sure solution doesn't leak.
I work between two offices at the moment, so I keep a few pairs in both desks just in case as well as a pair in my car. I considered going back to glasses before I got dailies pretty much out of convenience alone, but I hate glasses as you don't get an undisturbed field of view and the lens distortion at the edges usually give me motion sickness. Having some dailies really is the best of both worlds.
> I hate glasses as you don't get an undisturbed field of view and the lens distortion at the edges usually give me motion sickness
The reason I switched to contacts was because this effect was so bad that I felt like it was difficult to hold eye contact with one person, and any group conversations had me swinging my head around to point my chin at whoever was talking because otherwise I couldn't meet their eyes. It was very isolating.
I wore extended wear lenses for a while (my vision is okay enough that I've been going without any corrective for years). They are very sensitive to how clean they actually stay, and I think it is quite easy to scratch them up.
The gas-permeable ones were from ye olden times, I don't think most people need to bother with those anymore because materials for soft lenses these days admit much more oxygen. They were also by far the least comfortable.
The extended wear ones were an amazing transition after the previous ones. Barring manufacturing irregularities in any particular contact lens, a few seconds after they're in your eye, you can genuinely forget that they're there. My issue with these was mostly psychological: removing them every night and cleaning them proved to be annoying enough that I would justify just sleeping in them for one night. The second day was much more uncomfortable (dryness mostly). Subsequent days would be miserable, but I seldom made it all the way through day two.
I finally switched to dailies and they are even thinner (read: more comfortable), and it's effortless to take them out and switch to glasses when I'm ready for bed, so I very very seldom end up sleeping in them. (Also, if one happens to fall on the ground or get torn, it's not like you're losing a week's worth of wear on it, you were going to throw it away anyway that night. Just having that peace of mind is nice.) Finally, when traveling, I don't have to pack the travel size contact lens solution and lens case, I just bring however many days' worth of lenses (they come individually packaged). It's been amazing and I recommend it.
If the thought of having something in your eye seems weird, maybe try a trial set. Optometrists (at least all the ones I've used here in the US) will give you a pair of extended wear lenses or roughly a 10-pack of dailies to try out, so that you know how they are before you commit to a year's supply. They'll also generally coach you on inserting/removing. It was awkward for the first month but now it's just a part of my routine.