Ham radio often sounds like a big undertaking from the outside, but there are some really good (and often free) resources for getting your license.
I suggest Ham, because like you, I don't get out a ton, but ham radio has helped me interact with more people, and coincidentally they're largely retirees in their 70s lol. But also because there are ham radio communities on Lemmy and all over the place, so it's usually not hard to find other hams near or far.
I took the US Technician and General tests back to back in March using ONLY hamstudy.org which doesn't even require an account. It costed me $50 to take the test which also included 1 year membership in my local ham club, and a Baofeng radio can be had very cheaply from Amazon or similar. With a cheap handheld radio (no giant antenna, or yard space needed), you can talk on repeaters in your area for many miles depending on geography
It often helps to find a specific common interest to link a group of people together, so if you're looking for like minded individuals to talk to, almost any hobby can be a good starting point.