"you will learn more as a CFI, II, MEI"

Agreed

"flying VFR with a buddy between the same few airports"

I think a small amout of safety pilot time, in the right situation, can be a good experience. 25 hours is good, 50 hours is about my limit, and 100 hours is padding your logbook.

I don't think the question is so much that a guy is going to skip the CFI phase. It's more that it's just hard to come by multi time in some circumstances and doing a little safety pilot time is a cost effective way of getting some cross country time while focusing on using the IFR system.