Chris has the answer. If you say "we went back home," then it's clear that you went all the way back home. If you say "we headed home," it means you started to go home. To "head" for a place is to go in the direction of that place. It doesn't necessarily mean that you will arrive at the place. For example: "We headed for the theater, but there was too much traffic, and we realized that we were going to be late. We ended up going to a restaurant instead." In this example, the speaker "headed" for the theater, but did not actually go to the theater. Usually, if you don't add anything else to the story, people will assume that you successfully arrived at the place that you were "headed" for. Sometimes "to head" can make a sentence sound more casual.

same meaning

What is important is that he returned home safely

Thanks alot Chris 🌹🌹🌹

"To head" is to start going in a certain direction. A native speaker will use "to head" when they introduce a story about something that happened after starting to go somewhere, but before arriving there. Example: After the movie, we headed home. On the way, we saw a car accident. The wrecked car was upside down and some paramedics were putting a person into an ambulance. We drove extra carefully for the rest of the trip home. Many times, "to head" and "to go" are equivalent. "We headed home and arrived at 9." or "We went home and arrived at 9." The Oxford Learner's Dictionaries are an excellent resource. head https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/head_3 [intransitive] (also be headed) + adv./prep. to move in a particular direction Let's head back home. She headed for the door.