I had an ablation and was completely off any drugs for almost 2 years. Then a mitral valve leak (regurgitation) caused my afib to recur. I had a mitral valve repair and have been afib free except for a couple short episodes for over a year. I'm still taking flecainide and eliquis, but don't have any side effects. After my ablation, I went to Nepal for 2 months of trekking, climbing to a bit over 18,000 feet; I'm heading off for a 3 week backpacking trip next week. So yes, you can have a very active life after afib. Whether you stay off drugs or not depends on your specific circumstances and your cardiologist.

One of my brothers had an ablation and is off all drugs - very active lifestyle. Another brother had an ablation (he had 3 ablations) and after the last the cardiologist (EP) took him off all drugs; his regular cardiologist put him back on eliquis; he is completely afib free.
Will all this last for all of us? We'll see, but all three of us are completely happy that we had it done.