Hello everyone! I have some questions about buying a car for overlanding. Well I'm not exactly sure what to call what I want to do, it might be overlanding or something different. None the less you all seem very knowledgeable and nice people so I thought I would ask some questions.

I want to be able to do my remote work laptop job while I travel across the US from Austin, Texas. I want to start small, maybe just a week at a "glamping" location with a tent set up for me. If I enjoy this and still succeed at my job, I'm going to consider going a step further and setting up a car that I can live out of for weeks at a time, maybe even months. I would then plan trips across the country, stopping in places for a few days to a few weeks at a time. I would do a good mix of more "roughing it" camp spots in nature, stops at campsites with amenities, and maybe even occasionally doing AirBnBs in a city for a few weeks for some fun. I would also love to camp out at music festivals and travel around for concerts. This is the dream I have now, but I want to start small. I am not buying gear yet, but I want a car that enables this kind of adventuring in the future without spending too much up front. I don't want a car that closes doors and limits my adventuring capability, but I don't want to invest too much right now.

Right now I am just making the choice on the car, but I need to decide quick. I have about 2 months left before my current car isn't safe to drive, it's very old and been through a lot. I want to search diligently, I am VERY good at research and negotiation, it becomes sport for me. I am even willing to look in several states, I am traveling for the holidays to see family in the next few months so I am open to buying a car in another state and starting the journey by driving it home. I mention this to emphasize that I can really laser in on exact make/model/package and not be restrained by what's on the lot in my hometown, but I got to do this in the next few days.

I want to narrow down a list of 2025 model cars, maybe 2024 that I should look at. I want to get a new (maybe lightly used but super strongly leaning toward new) car; something with:

Top tier: safety; reliability; low maintenance/cheap repairs

Mid tier: performance (not a track car but something that can handle tight turns, handles well, accelerates and overtakes on the highway with ease); MPG (decent doesn't have to be best in class); handles wild terrain (I've never been "off roading" but I'd like something with decent capability. It doesn't have to be a hardcore rock crawler but I'd like to never be afraid of terrain. I want to handle hills, obstructions, weather, and any challenges like this safely.)

Right now I am thinking about the follow cars

Subaru:

Crosstrek

Forester

Toyota:

RAV4

Mazda:
CX-30
CX-50

Is there anything else I should be looking at? What else should be on my list? Are there any packages/trims on these cars that are more worth the money? I'm trying to stay below $30k in MSRP or at least close to it.

My thought was to get something decent to start with, and later if I want to go more hardcore I can get things like a lift kit, roof rails, and off roading upgrades. Right now I want a good starting place.