Hey has been well worth the $100/year, especially since they improved search. Curious how it worked when you returned after a year. Did you get your old address back?
Yup! My HEY address was forwarding to Gmail after I stopped my subscription. When I came back, I had to start over. All of the data is removed when you leave. HEY provides a backup when your subscription ends, so I can always take a look at that if there's something I need from that first year.