Welcom!!FFXI need alot of patient tho if u want to enjoy it
plus every part in the game there is kind of enjoyment leveling/quests/missions/sub quests/HNMs/dynamis etc....
and regarding whm soloing , Whm is not the best job for solo maybe later on WHM/NIN but till lvl 75 i think solo as whm is not good idea later on you can build one for solo with merits/equip/club skills
if you are really interested in solo there is many other jobs can do it like BST , RDM , PLD , thf/nin(some times good in solo)
FFXI not like ffxiv players skills really notice able here you can see differences between thf to another thf , sometimes you might see rdm can solo almost everything and other rdm cant kill tough enemy.

anyway enjoy i just came back to the game after 8 years in different situation as a father for 2 kids

so i wont be a hardcore like when i was younger 460 days play time in 4 years
good luck