Lots of good points in here. I'll add another few observations.
We are a blue-collar family of me, wife, and one kid at home (12). We go fishing/wheeler riding 3/4 of weekends during late Spring through Summer until big game hunting seasons when I go solo a week each for deer/antelope/elk. A few Fall overnight trips for quail/coyotes/etc. According to my log we spent 82 nights in the trailer last year, 30 with family, 52 solo. (Keep a journal in the trailer to document your trips - makes it real easy to remember where to camp or where to dump in the future).
A small (14-18') travel trailer is ideal for me and my family. Is it a bit cramped when all are holed up inside during a daylong rainstorm: yes. Is making the dinette down into a bed every night a glorious PITA: yes. But, we go to the mountains to spend time outside as a family, not to sit in the trailer. During the hunts I take it on it is used strictly for sleeping and cooking. The benefit of being able to tow the trailer with a wheeler in the back of my 1/2 ton truck that is my daily driver is priceless. I have turned the trailer around with my truck on a gravel road with a widespot when an unexpected snowdrift shut down the plans for the preferred campsite. Not recommended, but I have turned the trailer around with my wheeler a time or two when not scouting the road ahead led to issues. Smaller is better for what I do. When solo I have all the space I could ever need and have processed numerous deer and elk inside the trailer.
Tent trailer was not an option for us as wife insisted that full-size toilet and shower were required if I wanted her to go with me, ever. Personally, I loved my wall tent better than the trailer but could not afford a new wall tent and a divorce also. New-to-me used standard trailer was the best choice, and the wisest choice.
This will sound stupid - but whatever you buy sit down on the toilet and close the bathroom door. Serious! In my trailer the front of the toilet is extremely close to the bathroom door and a full size person (6') cannot sit down or drop their pants with door completely shut. My fun-size wife (5'0") fits just fine.
I have the type with permanent bunk beds in the rear. Suits me fine - I use the bottom as gear storage and my daughter sleeps on the top and dead critters fit easily on the floor right inside the door. My buddy has an identical length trailer with the "couch" option and his easily feels 4x as spacious which fits him better with his giant dogs that go everywhere with his family.
Biggest trick to trailer camping is making sure the trailer is self-sufficient. By that I mean every pot/pan/spice/chair/etc. lives forever in the trailer. Dollar store and Goodwill is cheap way to equip the trailer. You want to be able to just load food and hunting/fishing gear and go. You will forget to repack the chairs you took out to go to the church BBQ, the Dutch Oven you took to the potluck will never make it back under the oven, the big fork you took back inside for Thanksgiving shall never return inside the trailer, the sleeping bag your daughter took to a sleepover months ago stays buried in her closet; the list is endless. Our rule is outside of trip-specific gear and food, nothing is removed from the trailer - ever. It takes a few emergency stops at a WalMart to make you realize just how expensive forgetting certain things really is. Camp stuff stays in the camper, ALWAYS.
Look at tire sizes. Like I said earlier, my buddy has a trailer identical in size to mine and same GVWR. Mine has skinny 14" tires, his has standard 15" tires. Both tandem axle. I shred one or two tires per year guaranteed. He has not lost a tire in 3 years. My trailer at 5,000# is max weight for the skinny 14" and with the terrain we go through on the plains and mountains they just fail.
If I was ever to do it again I would go to
Bumper Pull Toy Haulers - Dune Sport and design my own. The A/C is a waste of weight and money for me. I ripped out the microwave for more storage. I would love to design my own and not be forced to pay for the gingerbread most all models are loaded with at the factory.
Plan your trips! I usually haul my camp dry when going to the western slope of CO and pay $5 to fill up at a campground along the way to my primitive campsite. I dump on my way back too. No use hauling 500# of poop and waste over the continental divide all of the time.
Another buddy has an R-Pod which is a GREAT little unit. 1/2 the weight and easily expands to solo/family camping. It also cost 5x what I paid for my used trailer.
Finally, before you buy, do a quick search of the forums for model-specific "gotcha's". Certain models and years are lemons for sure with known failures. For example, my AC/LP fridge has a known refrigerator issue where freezer works great and fridge does not cool much. a replacement $30 board from Dinosaur Electronics and 5 minutes solved the issue but it took me 2 years to research the issue.
Blessings and good luck!
