But of course I don't run power so dxing on my part is very limited.
DXing on AM is a jungle at any power level however even barefoot on SSB can readily produce tons of worldwide contacts. Not sure what your power output level is but assuming 25 watts you are only one S-unit down from someone running 100 watts. How many times have you heard a 100 watt station get an S-10+ signal? Lots I'll bet. I used to DX with 12 watts pep on SSB confined to the old regular 23 channels and a 5/8 groundplane and logged contacts all over the eastern USA, Caribbean, and Europe as far north as Greenland. Nowadays on the freeband it is even easier because stations are spread out more. After I got the Shooting Star beam I worked a guy in Mossel Bay South Africa. He was barefoot with a 1/2 wave groundplane. Got the QSL to prove it. Don't discount what a barefoot radio will do on SSB.