I enjoy Hawking’s work as well. I remember he compared the universe to bubbles in a bathtub where the bubbles were galaxies with each containing billions of stars. So if there are billions of galaxies with each containing billions of stars then life has to be out there some where.
However space is just as difficult for other species to travel through as it is for us. Being able to harness enough power to efficiently travel through space would require technology that just boggles the mind…
Plus they say the Big Bang is still occuring so the universe is still growing and evolving.