I travel and own a house. Not hard, depending on where you live; renter-friendly areas are best, so I would consider ideal location for renter if you decide to buy. When I did some long term travel, I leased my house out to friends I knew were looking for a place.
Yes houses are upkeep, which is why I bought a fixer upper and over a few years replaced everything (electrical, plumbing, roof, AC....). I'm good on most of those now for at least a decade, other than minor service once a year or every other year. You also get a lot of control over what to repair, and for how much. You seem handy and like you would be able to put in a lot of sweat equity; those are the type of people, IMO, who are most likely to come out ahead in homeownership.
I am very lazy, bought a house at 25, and still have that same house (that I'm renting out now to other friends), nearly a decade later. People put as much or as little work into homeownership as they want. I'm right in the middle probably. I hate mowing, so I don't have lawns. Simple as that. I've accepted my true nature which is that aside from growing some produce, I'm not much of an ornamental gardener, so I grow native, self-maintaining and sustaining plants, and don't mind a little overgrowth. Most of the annoying domestic crap I don't like doing, are things I'd have to do in a rented space also.