Can't help on the cross country part but we were new to the camper thing as well. Went from never towing anything to towing a 35', 9900 lb travel trailer. Have over 6,000 miles so far and we're doing just fine and I'd go cross country tomorrow. What's the vehicle you ask? 2011 F150 with the max tow package.
Couple things -
1. Look at the yellow sticker on your driver's door jamb. The cargo capacity will be listed. That's the weight you can put in the truck. You, wife, dog, cat, stuff in bed, and tongue weight of the trailer.
2. Tongue weight is typically 10-15% of the trailer's weight. Figure this on GVWR of the trailer for calculating if you can tow.
3. Run the #'s - you, wife, dog, etc, tongue +50 or so lbs for the hitch. Make sure they are all under payload.
4. Make sure your truck has the tow package with integrated brake controller if not you'll need aftermarket.
5. Get a good hitch. We were sold an Equalizer and it works great.
6. Take it slow around the neighborhood as you get used to the feeling of how it handles. It rides,stops, turns, and brakes a lot different with the weight. Backing will take patience.
There's no reason you can't do this safely with your truck as long as it's within the weight specs for your truck. Your trailer brakes stop the trailer and not even a 1 ton truck's brakes are rated to stop the GCVW at max capacity. The rest of the things often cited are issues towing with any vehicle.
We went from nothing to towing with this combination. It tows so well even my wife will now drive it. The only place she won't is in a campground as it's "too tight" and she won't back it up.
