[RetroTechie]

Faster Than Light (FTL) isn't needed for interstellar travel. A cosy 0.01c would cross the distance between Sun and its closest neighbour (Proxima Centauri) in ~425 years. Less if we wait for it (or another star) to make its closest approach.

Further-away stars would take longer but on the flipside you have many more candidates as destination.

TLDR; any spaceship that can be kept operational for a few centuries or millenia, while travelling at a modest fraction of c, would allow space-faring intelligent life to meet alien life in person, as long as it is 'nearby' (compared to crossing the Milky Way for example).

Not saying that's easy! Or that alien life is nearby. But possible.