It's always hard to suggest what a vehicle or method to recommend because there really is no one foolproof "plan". Do you want a dedicated travel rig, a multi-purpose rig, or just a weekend cruiser? How much do you want to spend? Are you going to use it everyday or just once in a while? So I'll throw my opinion on the campfire of discussion and see how it burns.
For us the best set-up is a Double Cab truck. Plenty of room in the cab for the family and it can be used for work and hauling duties when dealing with the real world we all have to live in. Our current long travel rig is a '06 Tundra DC. We're pushing the tall side as a family, other than my wife whose on the petite side of the tape. I'm pushing 6', my 15 yr old daughter is 5'-9" while the boy, whose 12, is already 5' -10" and growing like a mutant weed. The Tundra has a comfy interior with plenty of room to stretch out the long legs that our family seems to sprout. The DC Tundra is very roomy and the kids can spread out very comfortably. Theres' plenty of 12v power outs in the back for their chargers and gear and more cupholders than they need.
We are currently running a topper for long haul trips. The nice thing about this is that the rear window of the DC is powered, so when it's dropped down access to the bed through the cap slider window is really easy. Set on the deck in the front of the bed is our daily travel cooler with drinks and snacks as well as the kids travel bags with their books and stuff. Drop the rear window, which we call The Airlock , and the kids reach back to get a cold drink or their next book to read. As an aside, I think half of our travel weight iis the sheer amount of literature we cart around on trips. This frees up room in the cabin and keeps clutter down. We can store all the gear for extended trips in the bed easily despite the amount of gear we bring. This includes two tents, shade shelter, latrine shelter and pot, 25 gal water tank, full complement of cooking gear, food storage, cooler or fridge, sleeping gear(bags,pillows and pads), tools, recovery gear, trail tools (axe, hilift, chainsaw), firewood, campstove and so on and so forth. I'm sure you get the gist of it. Plus with the gear in the bed and seperated from the cabin stuff like shells collected on a beach or damp wet tents or towels don't stink up the interior on the ride home. Yeah, shells stink after sittting in the hot humid air of a vehicles interior.:snorkel:
Another plus to the truck is that it gives us some flexibility to chose the set-up we need for any given trip. Sometimes, if we're going to more rugged terrian and trails, we go with the above load out. It keeps us nimble and flexible when the woods get tight. Other times when we will be basecamping and exploring out from one area for a couple of days then we hook up our off road pop-up camp trailer and that pretty much clears out the bed . Everything listed above either isn't needed or it all fits easily within the confines of the trailer. If your interested just check out my Tundra link in my signature.
I think the ultimate set-up would be like TacoDocs DC Taco with the Flippak. A Tundra version of his set-up would be a sweet because while Tacos are nice, V-8 power is always better. But I say start out with a good used truck and a cheap cap of some kind and see how it works out for your family as you use it the first couple of times. Tweek the set-up as you go and dail it in to fit your needs.
Edit: Also if you go this route it be worth checking out jim65wagon's Tundra build thread as he is the king of organized gear storage and hauling. The sheer amount of stuff he hauls in a small area is amazing. He's got some good ideas in that there thread.
