First travel trailer, what should I buy?

I will weigh in again since you have said that you have camped before but don't like the cab-over.

When our girls were 2 and 5, we had a hybrid. Having our own potty was perfect for the potty-training time, along with an honest to goodness kitchen were things that sold us on it. The girls slept on the dinette, so we had to crawl over then to get in/out of bed. That was not a good thing. It was still great, but during a rainy weeklong trip, it got really small! Also, my parents, who were babysitters during the day, decided that they couldn't be without the kids for a week, so they wanted to go along with us.

We then went with a bunkhouse TT when the kids were 3 and 6, that had quad bunks in the back, queen in master and the availability of a bed with the dinette and couch that made a bed. We slept 13 in it one night, or at least we tried with all the turning and moving around that was going on, it was about impossible. There were people in the floor, doubled up in the bunks and an additional kid in our bed.

That lasted us until we started camphosting during the summers and spending in excess of 100+ nights in it each year. We now have a front bunkhouse fifth wheel and will probably keep it until we can afford a large Class A with bunks (probably won't happen).

Looking can be half the fun. You are right. Not much quality out there. Airstream is one of the few quality units IMHO. I like the look and quality of the CAMP LITE trailers. Whatever you buy used pay to have it gone through by a qualified shop with no ties to seller. Money well spent. This should happen prior to money changing hands. Best of luck

I'll weigh in on the pop-ups.

I've tent camped since I was a kid and got tired of setting tents up, kids didn't like it as much, etc. We bought a used popup in 2009. I like that the popup feels like a tent in that I can hear the birds and crickets. It's real easy to zip the canvas down in the spring or fall but zip up and run the heater or A/C if necessary.

Setting up the PUP doesn't bother me. My kids are older - key fact - and we can set up in 15 minutes. Take-down is closer to 30 though because we have to get everything just so to get it to close. I expect a new PUP would be much better.

Other Pros:
1. Smaller spot required: I can fit in the smallest spots in a campground which is more likely to be available and is much cheaper, especially if at a nicer campground. If a bigger spot is all that is available, I can always bump up.
2. Park it in my garage for $0/month
3. Easy to tow. I've pulled trailers of some sort since I was 15 but it's still nice having the PUP. My F-150 doesn't even know it's back there. If you haven't towed much, more reason to start small

Cons:
1. No bathroom. We camp near the bath house and hasn't been a big deal to us but is a big con worth considering.
2. Not easy to load pretrip. Due to GVWR most goes in truck but it's a pain to check if blankets were left in the PUP.
3. Take down in the rain is painful..

We've made two cross-country moves in our PUP (military) and it's been a good test for me that I love camping and look forward to full-timing when I retire. However, we lived in CA for much of the time we had the PUP and rain is not an issue. Cross-countries it was and back on East Coast it is. I'm researching TT's now because of being caught breaking camp one too many times in the rain.

If you are just doing weekend trips where you can avoid weather or wait it out, that might not be a deal breaker. As everyone has said, it's a very personal decision on what is the "right travel trailer."

What we think about your camper is not important. YOU have to pick the Trailer that fits your needs, and your wants the best. You have to get the one you want. Because YOU are the only one you have to please. Just take your time and pick wisely

If you LIKED everything about the tent camping other than the sleeping on the ground and no place to keep your stuff aspects, then you may want to consider a tent trailer, AKA popup camper.

For us, the huge appeal of that is that it vanishes into the back of the garage when we aren't camping and doesn't affect our choice of daily life vehicle (minivan in our case). If you're ready for RVing to be one of the top 5 focuses of your life, a TT or moho might make sense. But at your stage in life, if you'd rather limit the RV experience to vacations and several weekend trips a year, a popup might make better long term sense. Outdoor stored RVs eat your life up. Garage stored pups wait patiently for you with almost no needs.

Get something,with bunks. Setting up and taking dinette or couch gets old, real quick.

We have tent camped before, with kids.
Kids are 2 and 5, and growing :)

And we rented a C-class before.
One thing I do not like about C-class - cabover beds.

find the floorplan that fits your family the best and then shop what brands have a similar floorplan.
as was mentioned, a bunkhouse model is a good fit for a family like yours.
then after you find the right model, get a tow vehicle that can easily tow it.
payload capacity is more important than towing capacity. many vehicles, especially SUV's, have great towing capacities but lousy low payload capacities.

Have you camped before? If so, how? Trailer? RV? Tent? Pop-up? I'm going on the assumption that this is all new to you.

Prior to the 2008 crash a lot of people jumped into RVing because the money was easy to borrow and it looked cool. A lot of people really didn't care for it after all and trailers sat doing nothing or were sold cheaply. I would hate to see you buy something you regret later.

All that said, try renting something first for a week or long weekend. If you like it, then go to a dealer and just look around. Or go to an RV show.

A family of 4 in an Airstream would not be good. They are beautiful high quality units, but they have small beds and feel claustrophobic to me. Not to mention their floor plans and choice of interior materials are really cool for an office, but don't feel homey in the slightest.

If your family has any tenting experience I'd recommend looking at hybrid trailers. Some have 3 bed options and slide outs, and are very roomy.

do a lot of looking first, ask dumb questions, you,ll learn alot .NEVER EVER BUY a tt that shows ANY water damage.