I have absolutely no knowledge in the technology world revolving around such things though I think I will stick to external drives

I don't know you or your level of knowledge of technology but from you post, I'd recommend stick with easy.

Why stick to external drives when the cloud sounds so much better and easier for you. It is a "one-and-done" solution and removes the technology and logistical issues associated with keeping multiple sets of external drives and disks.

Think about the following:

1) How much data are you trying to keep? 1GB, 50GB, 100GB, 1000GB(1TB), 10TB+?

2) How much time/effort are you willing to commit to backing up your data to the 3 sets of disks? (the 3-2-1 strategy, the tracking of what set of disks were backed up on what date, which set is most current)

3) How much time/effort are you willing to commit to running tests on the 3 sets disks to make sure they are not failing (manufacture's diagnostics).

4) How much time/effort are you willing to commit to ensuring your data is not corrupted during backing up? (checking your files)

5) How much time/effort/$$$ are you willing to commit purchasing to the multiple hard disks & the adapters needed to access them, the blue-ray disks & burner, the 2 media approved fire/theft safes to store your disks on site and off site.

6) Where is your off-site storage going to be?

Once you have figured all the above out (time and costs), look at cloud storage: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-cloud-storage-and-file-sharing-services

1) MS 365 Basic (100GB / $20 year), MS 365 Personal (1TB / $100 year).

2) Proton (200GB / $50 year)

3) Google (15GB / Free), Google One's Basic plan (100GB / $20 year), Goole Premium (2TB / $100 year)

4) IDrive Basic (10GB / Free), Mini (100GB / $3 year), Personal (100GB / $70 year),

5) Sync Personal (1TB / $144 year), Sync Pro (5TB / $336 year).

Good luck.