what can I progress before going from F2P to Subscripted?

[yo-yoling]

Hey y'all, I'm not a WoW player myself but I started playing the free trial to feel stuff out, and after doing some of the campaign I find myself not knowing what to do at all. I want to progress stuff that will help me out on the long run whenever I actually pay for the game to play with friends. I know I can get the dragonflight glyphs, get better bags and maybe lvl professions, but what else should I be doing/unlocking to speed things up for when I try the full game? Any kind of info and or links are welcomed since I don't know even what I don't know I need to unlock o7

 

[Calligraphy]

Realistically speaking, a character started fresh on a paid account and one who spent a year F2P before subbing would look pretty similar past level 30 and would be almost impossible to meaningfully distinguish at endgame. Each expansion is a soft reset where the last expansion's professions, reputations and gear become outclassed and thus irrelevant.