My suggestion to you, then, would be to get one of the cheap $100 drones to just learn to fly a drone. Ignore the camera part for now. Just learn how to control the thing adequately. Find one that has the best battery life you can, so you don't get frustrated by a very short flight time. Even 10 minutes seems like quite a long time at first when you are just trying to keep the drone up in the air, and going in the direction you want it to go. When you start feeling bored with it will likely be the time to start thinking about an upgrade.
The GoPro is actually a pretty handy little pocket sized camcorder. There are accessories that allow you to attach it to just about anything and have it go just about anywhere. All the while with the ability to take pretty decent 4K video. I've watched videos of drone crashes carrying GoPros that totally destroyed the drone, but the GoPro came out of it with absolutely no damage. So those things appear to be made to be pretty robust.
I guess it depends on really how much video you want to take in situations where a typical video camera might not be convenient or safe. Heck, I've even used a GoPro as a pretty capable dashcam on trips.
The new Hero 5 looks to be pretty nice, and I like that they incorporated the view screen into this generation. With the two Hero 4s I bought, I went and bought the optional attachment screen, as I felt that is a necessity so you can actually see what the heck your camera is seeing to take video. I think I will likely buy one before my next trip anywhere. But with anything new, I really don't like being the first on my block to get one. Let other people be the unpaid beta testers.
And honestly, being cautious, or practical as you put it, is not unwise. Look at YouTube videos at the number of drone crashes that people went through that completely destroyed their $1,000+ drones for them. Or the number of flyaways. And you can bet you are only seeing a very small percentage of them. I don't know about you, but I really have no desire to spend that kind of money just to have it crash to the ground, or watch it fly away to parts unknown. Which is exactly why I put this drone interest on the back burner for a while. I just have not been convinced that these drones are ready for prime time outside of hardcore radio control enthusiasts. This stuff is still cutting edge, with that cut possibly going both ways, no matter how careful you may be.
So if you want to get into these things, do so cautiously, in a manner that you can back out if you find it's really not for you, without losing a lot of "skin" in the process. The smaller, lightweight drones are actually pretty tough and can take a good number of crashes without suffering damage. So they are very good for using as a basic trainer.
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