I just wanted to add to the discussion re: renting a trailer and tow vehicle that you may not be familiar with. I grew up in a family with heavy duty pickup trucks and trailers, and am very comfortable with them (not an expert, but very familiar with how different a travel trailer pulls compared to a utility trailer). LarryJ had a great point. We did our first rental combination in Utah in Aug 2008, renting a pickup from one company and trailer from another (they refer to each other). Things to consider:
You are usually geared up and ready for vacation, patience is a virtue here and taking the time to be sure of the proper set up and connection is time well spent. First truck we were shown to had what appeared to be low tire pressure on the passenger side front. Rental agent just instructed me to go to the nearest service center and fill it up. Being more safety minded I asked him if he thought a brand new truck with 2000 miles should be losing air? Found a nail in the tire and switched trucks.
Fast forward to the trailer place, now about an hour behind schedule and we are shown to our rental trailer by a 17yo kid. Very friendly and nice, but... the pavement in front of the trailer was sloped upward more than a foot at the front of the truck. Being in a rush with everyone waiting, plus considering the exit from the facility not being very RV friendly, I had too much on my mind to realize that we were being connected to the trailer with the trailer ball set too high. In addition, they did not check how much weight was on the trailer hitch, and the kid did not connect the sway bar. For those not experienced in towing this way, you can end up with too much weight on the rear of the trailer and a potential for nearly uncontrollable trailer sway when you reach about 45 mph (typically as you are trying to merge onto the highway in traffic and are already distracted).
The attached photo shows the set up with the rear of the trailer about 4 inches too low (not easy to see). We ended up being perfectly fine, and did not have problems during the trip, but there was that constant nagging feeling because I did not set the trailer up myself, and did not have the proper tools to correct the problem once we left the rental place. I would do it again, but would plan more time and patience during the set up part. We had a very fun vacation and I would recommend it to many who do not want the cost of owning their own trailer or who may not have a place to keep it stored. This vacation was the deal clincher where we decided what we wanted in a trailer and we bought our first used TT as a family two months later.