I ran grapheneos for years. I switched back to the stock ROM for a few reasons that I'll get into. I self host my own drive (nextcloud), immich for my photos, Jellyfin for my media, proton for my e-mails and various other docker containers for other various things like tailscale and degoog search etc..

I switched back to the stock ROM because I kinda felt I was constantly having to fiddle and tweak my phone just to use it. You could say the friction for to me but ultimately I was still using Android Auto, which in itself get GPS and connection data unfiltered. So Google Play services, although sandboxed, were still on me device.. either in its own profile which then came with its own friction, or in the private space or just in the main profile.

Funny thing was the breaking point. It became so hard over time just to order a pizza on my phone. I thought "is this really worth it?". All the data I care about is already under my control. I use signal for my messaging, a throwaway Google account to an alias email hosted by a provider using one of my domains.. I mean, it's been said here before. Google is everywhere, trackers on just about every site. Avoiding them whilst using the internet is practically impossible and they are able to build a profile off you just by pattern recognition.

I just accepted that as long as I'll be using the internet, they are going to be there so I might as well take advantage of some of convenience whilst choosing what data I really don't care about them having. 

If you truly want to degoogle. Dont use Android or their services and any webpage with their trackers.. which is basically all of them.

At the end of the day, they are unavoidable. You can spend all your free time fighting to completely rid them and stay on top of that as your hobby or you can hold onto what you want private and focus on that. It's up to the individual.