When I was young and bullet proof I as well did a lot of stupid things in aircraft and was lucky enough to survive.
Single night IFR.
Single engine night IFR/VFR over mountainous terrain.
And of course single engine day/night/IFR/VFR over water.
So I have no right to tell people not to do as I did, but there was no way in hell I'd ever do that again after I had about 2,000 hours. The risk was not worth it.
As I am retired now there is no way in hell I'd ride in a single engine aircraft in the conditions as above, turbine or piston.
Like you I also have been flying for a long time, since 1953 to be exact and 52 years of that was for a living.
A lot of my flying was in the higher risk area, 7 years crop dusting both fixed and rotary wing, 15 years heavy water bomber Captain and 8 years as a airdisplay pilot in airshows all over Europe.
At least in those situations I had options if an engine quit.
Far more than if I had no engine at night, IFR in the mountains or God forbid over very cold water.
I am also now retired and still alive and able to enjoy traveling all over in my big diesel motor home, in fact I am sitting in it right now just south of Sacramento Ca.
And I managed to fly over 30,000 hours all accident free and no violations of the rules. ( They never caught me.
)