The Technician license will limit you to the 2M/70cm bands. Great for local and regional contacts via repeaters. If you want to talk worldwide on HF, you’ll have to take the General and/or Extra exams.
I have an inexpensive Yaesu handheld and it’s a great little radio to play around with in regards to repeaters. But if you want to play with the big boys and talk world wide, DX on HF is the way to go. And it can get expensive.
I tend to go overboard when I jump into a new hobby. Story of my life.
Definitely want to go worldwide.
I’ll build an antenna. Thankfully the HOA ignores me. I have one pain in the arse neighbor in my Pennsylvania house, but she will be pushing posies soon. Natural causes. 😁