The nearest life-bearing planet is most likely hundreds of light-years away. Faster-than-light communication doesn't mean faster-than-light travel, and nobody wants to sit in a spaceship for 200 years.
Also, there's no telling how long an alien life-form might live, or how patient they might be. Basing things on human lifetimes and personalities seems a little anthropocentric given that we know practically nothing about alien life.
If the nearest life-bearing planet is hundreds of light-years away, even if you could travel at the speed of light, it would still take you hundreds of years to get there, from your frame of reference.
Time dilation just means it would appear to take even longer from the frame of reference of those you left behind (or those you were headed towards).