The chance to mix long haul trips with a few day trips and time at home would surely be a brilliant lifestyle for any pilot, but there are understandably very few airline sin a position to offer such a role.
For some yes a mix of short and longhaul appeals, but for others the thought of flying purely shorthaul and maybe even sleeping in their own bed every night is compelling whilst for just as many, the thought of numerous reports to work and having to live near to the airport is awful, and long haul allows them to engineer bigger blocks of days off, allowing potentially more time at home, and/or the opportunity to live abroad etc.
What you desire may also change with age and your home situation (age of kids etc).