I love camping but I'm out of practice. In college and early adulthood we used tents and just unpacked the car at the campsite. After I started mountain biking we bought a used popup so I had a comfortable bed and air conditioning if I was doing a riding vacation in the Georgia summer heat. It was great for years, lots of awesome memories. But then the roof started to crack and fall apart (plastic molded roof Coleman? Really?) and we bought a boat. We weren't using the camper so I sold it to someone on here....
We bought a giant 10x10 easy-up cabin tent and some plush air mattresses from Walmart. The plan is that we can tow the boat and take the tent, and stay at state parks with big boat-able lakes. I figure for the most part, I don't really want to go camping if the weather isn't good enough for a tent. Like, if it's too hot or too cold, I'm lucky enough that I can now afford a cabin or other rental. Only wrench in that is that it turns out the dog doesn't like the boat, and we can't leave him in the tent. Not sure how to handle that one.
We have yet to actually try it although we've had the tent out in the back yard a couple nights. We've actually talked about looking at another camper, but we'd probably like a bigger boat more. It's kind of one or the other since the wife isn't comfortable driving large vehicles or towing. (see also, big tri-toon with a full enclosure...)
it's just the two of us and the dog which makes most things easier. If I was running a Bambi and several kids, I'd set the camper up with my sleeping quarters and the general support areas like kitchen. Plan on the kids sleeping in their own small tents on the same site, but have enough flat surfaces in the camper they could pull beck in if the weather went bad, even if they weren't that comfortable. Put each kid together a tote with their sleeping bag and the stuff they need for their tent (but maybe not the tent itself.) When you hit the site, each kid grabs their tote and their tent and finds a spot. That way you are quickly clearing the trailer so you can set it up. Streamlining your setup mechanics pays huge dividends in enjoyment and willingness to actually GO CAMPING. Figure out your basic setup and keep it packed and ready. We were set up so we could decide on Friday afternoon to go, hit groceries on the way out, and wake up in the woods on Saturday morning. Ditto coming in hot Sunday night and getting up for work Monday - much easier if you don't have to unpack.
General thoughts - Our pop up didn't have a bathroom. The GA and FL parks generally have very well maintained group bathrooms, even if some are older. It was never a problem, but... As I get older those late night trips get more frequent. Plus I've almost stepped on venomous snakes a couple times in the dark. So the next rig (if I bought one) would have a bathroom on board, or at least a composting toilet.
The king size bed in the pop up was great, but you had to climb over a sofa and then over your partner to get in/out. If I buy again, it will be a fore-aft queen with space on each side to at least get out of the bed. Likely in the smallest hard side camper I could get that setup in.
AC is a necessity because if I'm making camper payments, I'd better be able to use it happily all year. Heat is much easier to onboard aftermarket. (and it's better to buy used but newish and make the payments in my opinion, unless it's an airstream or similar that's actually worth fixing.)
If you are building or rebuilding your own, wire it like a small house. I had to rewire about half of our pop-up and the factory stuff was SKETCHY.
Unless you're bike or back packing, plan on extra areas that will provide shade/rain coverage outside the main unit. This can be 10x10 popups, tarps strung to trees, whatever. Having enough coverage to keep yourself and vital gear dry-ish can be the difference between a good trip and a E36 M3 fest that makes you pack up and scurry for home.
Speaking of, know when to give up break camp. It's a PITA but sometimes cut and run is the right answer. In 30 years I've only done it twice, and both were absolutely the right answer.
