Jasman
If you have access to a TAFE course then don't muck around, just do it. There is a lot more to welding that meets the eye. I started by doing a small amount during an automotive mechanics course in Sydney many years ago then followed up with a two year night course that even included arc welding copper. Even then the course did not include all types of welding.
Building a camper trailer might look easy but it will involve choosing the correct welding equipment and consumables, joint preparation, down hand, verticle and overhead welding, setting the job up to eliminate distortion as the weld cools and a lot more. It is not something you learn in a crash course.
You mentioned small jobs and projects. I am about to start some welding repairs on an old cast iron wood burning stove. It will involve using a old modified barbeque to slowly pre heat the parts from cold up to a point where I can take them up to just under red heat with a large propane burner. I will then oxy weld the previously ground out and prepared cracks. The final step will be taking them up to a dull red heat before starting a long period of slow cooling.
I brazed and arc welded cast iron at TAFE but did not use oxy on it. This method has been used successfully by a man in Canada for many years. I contacted him after finding him on the net but I would not have been able to fully understand what he was telling me without those TAFE courses.
