When I was younger and living at home (I'm talking like, 25 years ago or more), we had barn cats on our farm. One of the cats, Corvette, was one of my favorites, and I considered her "mine".

Apparently, Corvette, had other ideas. She would disappear for days, sometimes weeks, and I remember thinking something awful happened to her. Turns out she had just wandered up the back country road to another neighbor who only had one cat, and also kept her inside a lot more (cats weren't considered inside pets back in the day at my house). I finally convinced my mom that Corvette would be happier as a primarily indoor cat, so she did come back and spend much more time with us than up at the neighbor's house.

It's all in what they want and what they get. I didn't blame her for wanting to spend more time inside.