My partner and I have been talking about doing some touring. Mostly "ride to local state park and camp" sorts of things. Crazyguyonabike is very helpful. Lots of equipment lists, reviews, "what would I do differently" articles. Tour diaries can also help. Most people there feel disc brakes on a tourer are a bad idea, for a laundry list of structural and engineering reasons. The short version is "they break. a lot."

We want to start small, because it will be easier on the budget *and* on us. Plus, then we can start doing lots of short trips on weekends and get out more. And short trips means we can combine biking and hiking. He likes bikes, but thinks camping and hiking are more fun. I like hiking and camping fine, but like bikes a bit more. Compromise! (well that and we both think more excuses for fire and peach cobbler are win/win propositions)

Since you already *have* lots of bikes, take a look and see if you've got one that will take a rack. Add a trailer for your dog, pick a date and go for a minivacation. A 20-50 mile jaunt with an overnight in a motel or at a local state park should help shake some of the kinks out of your gear. Next time, go a bit further, and fix anything that didn't go so well. If you discover you need a touring bike, the Trek one gets good reviews. But for testing the waters you probably don't need it . Trailer and panniers first.