I work with someone who turned me onto it, so I have a real life person I'd likely communicate with. I'm also interested in emergency use cases. Definitely considering licensure. At least the lower levels to start.
I would suggest buying a cheap walkie talkie like a boafeng GT-3WP. Then look up the frequencies of your local ham repeaters on repeaterbook.com and listen in for a while. If you can hear people that you want to talk to, pursue getting a technician license.
Then go to http://websdr.org/ and a find a HF receiver and listen in a to hear whats going on on the ham HF bands. If you feel the urge to jump in and talk, pursue getting a general license.
I have been hamming for 12 years, feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.
Discussion
Well there you go, then it's really just a matter of defining the geographic area that you want to be able to communicate with, picking the appropriate technology and jumping through the regulatory hoops. In general, VHF simplex is good for up to 30 miles, HF with 100W and an nondirectional antenna will get 500 miles most days and thousands if miles on good days, HF with a power amplifier and a directional antenna will get out worldwide most days.
Worldwide sounds really cool. Thank you for the suggestions