I've programmed all those languages before (learned C in '87, C++ in 93, Go in 2015 or so) and to be honest, while I still love C, I absolutely hate what C++ has become, Go never appealed to me (they really ignored numeric work for a long time). Rust feels like somebody wanted to make a better C with more standard libraries, without going the crazy path C++ took.
Also this. I liked C (don't use it now, right now it is mostly Java) but C++ didn't appeal to me.
Rust is for me similar to C just like you wrote, it is better, bigger but not the overwhelming way like C++ (and Rust has cargo, don't know if C++ has anything).
I actually got interested in Rust because its integer types and the core data structures looked sane, instead of this insanity: https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/types/integer.html . Fluid integer types are evil.
I stayed for the native functional programming, first class enums, good parts of C++ and the ultimate memory safety.
OO is supposed to make life easier but C++ exposes all the complexity of the implementation to you. Its approach to hiding complexity is to shove it partially under a carpet with sharp bits sticking out.
That is exactly how I feel about it. I've always loved C for it's simplicity and Rust felt like an accidental love letter.