I have been active in genealogy since the 80's. Since we retired, I have introduced this wonderful activity to my husband. He only knew his grandparents' names and that was all. He has never been in close vicinity to any relatives. He has since met a first cousin in West Texas and in contact with other cousins. He feels the root connection and is tracing his family. With just a little information he has gone back to his 3rd great grandfather and has learned about his ancestors. Working puzzles is an enjoyable pastime for him so genealogy has fueled his interest in putting his family puzzle together. It is addictive.
I have traced my paternal grandparents etc. back to my 5th great grandparents. I even found a picture of my gggrandmother when I checked Find a Grave website.
We have a Genealogy Center in our city with very a knowledgeable staff when we hit a brick wall. The center (as well as our local library) has a library subscription to ancestry.com for our use.
Good luck with your projects.