K3CAN

Meshtastic supports mqtt, so that would probably be the easiest way to send messages to/from Home Assistant. Everything is done through the GUI, no coding knowledge required.

I have the Heltec V3 personally, so I can vouch for that. I would imagine that any device would probably work, though, as long as it has Wi-Fi.

For tracking, I’d look into Airtags or Moto Tags. They have a battery life measured in years instead of hours, and they’re much smaller.

That’s where my mind went. M33, baby.