I picked up our new 21 footer this past November. Like the OP, we're new to all this. Never camped (well, as a kid, but that doesn't count as you had all the fun and none of the set-up/clean-up work), never had a trailer, etc, etc, etc. I did rent a motorhome for a month, 2 years ago, and that was well worth the cost.
We'd already looked at various SOBs at dealer lots and shows. Nothing really appealed enough to drop the money on them.
Was told about Scamps and did lots of research on fiberglass trailers. What really drew me to the Escapes was the length of the bed. I hated hanging my feet out over the end of the bed in that motorhome as it was a short RV queen. As I recall, none of the other fiberglass trailers had beds that length, or if they did I didn't like the rest of the layout.
Joined this forum. Did a ton of reading. Was offered some trailer viewing by various forum members. We looked at the 19, 21 and 5.0TA. Really liked the 5.0, but I needed the bed space in the truck for hauling stuff to shows I vend at. Ordered the 21 and then waited 11 months to get it. Very long 11 months!
Oh yeah, if possible, look at a trailer with a u-shaped dinette. Unfortunately, at the time, ETI didn't have any display models with one (their 21 now does - yay!) and it's hard to decide on it until you actually sit at it (least it was for me). Someone locally let me flop on theirs, with the filler board and without the installed table, and that sold it for me.
Another nice feature of the Escapes is that you can, if you're willing to spend the money, get some nifty things, such as your own choice of fabric for the dinette, countertop and flooring. Well worth it in our minds as we weren't too keen on the stock ones. And you can do other customizing to your trailer, if the money spent is worth it to you and ETI is willing to do it for ya.
So far, I've put over 4000 miles on the trailer since mid-March and have been overall quite happy with it (and Dirk has yet to travel in it!). There's been some ups and downs along the way, but I'm muddling through it all. You will too.
As others have suggested, look at as many as you can before you make any decisions. That really helped us. It was also great seeing the trailers with stuff in there so you can see how they're used instead of pristine and empty.
As my husband told me, pick the trailer you like and want to use. Then start looking for vehicles to tow it with. After all, you will have a long wait to get the trailer and that'll give you plenty of time to test drive a wide range of vehicles. And, once you get the trailer, you're gonna start wadding it with stuff and the weight will go up and up. So, yeah, plan for that and get a vehicle that has enough umph for it and then some.
Good luck with your decision (both the OP and anyone else chiming in on this thread that they're thinking about one).
