This isn't about pretending to be James Bond, and "hostile" networks with "government agents" and all their "sigint" coming for your secrets.
In the real world, VPN are mostly used to download copyrighted material. They have a pretty much perfect track record in that regard. Running a cloud VPS, on the other hand, is no more secure than your ISP: they have records, and will share them when ordered to do so.
This is a trade I'm willing to accept. I trust a VPS provider more with those records than I trust either Verizon or Comcast, both of which are motivated by advertising.
In the real world, VPN are mostly used to download copyrighted material. They have a pretty much perfect track record in that regard. Running a cloud VPS, on the other hand, is no more secure than your ISP: they have records, and will share them when ordered to do so.