It may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get adjusted to the terms/menus, it isn't that bad. Maybe start using a WMS (there are plugins that add mappacks

It may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get adjusted to the terms/menus, it isn't that bad. Maybe start using a WMS (there are plugins that add mappacks like https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/openlayers_plugin/ https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/openlayers_plugin/, or you can find free servers like https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/tigerwebmain/TIGERweb_wms.html https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/tigerwebmain/TIGERweb_wms.ht...) to provide the tiles. From there, you can zoom in to your applicable scale then start adding features (https://docs.qgis.org/3.22/en/docs/user_manual/working_with_vector/editing_geometry_attributes.html#advanced-digitizing https://docs.qgis.org/3.22/en/docs/user_manual/working_with_... or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDFgP7msjP4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDFgP7msjP4) like points and then polylines/etc. for boundaries/shapes. There are lots of rabbit holes to go down, but if you stay in 2D mode and just look up things as you go, it isn't as bad as trying to learn _everything_ from the get go.