I've used Pathogen previously and I have to say I much prefer Vundle. It's the only plugin I have to manage in my .vim directory. All the plugins I use are listed right in my vimrc, and running :BundleInstall does a git pull from each plugin's repository which gives me the latest updates. I use terminal-based vim for all of my coding and text editing all day, and my vimrc is only 91 sloc.
I think the advice to stay away from highly customized environments and hacks is really the way to go. A huge strength of vim is that you're going to find it on any server you end up using.
Disclosure: I didn't disable my arrow keys when I started with vim, but after a few months I did end up doing it to really brand the h/j/k/l movements in my mind.
One problem I had with Pathogen using git submodules (and presumably Vundle as well) was the inability to tweak my plugins. I wanted the ability to be able to modify several of the plugins I had installed and I couldn't figure out a nice way of doing this. In the end I opted for git subtrees but this also seems like an overcomplicated solution.
For tweaking plugins, you should use .vim/after/plugin/NAME.vim files. Otherwise, clone the repository, make your changes, and initiate a pull request.
https://github.com/tomhsx/dotfiles/blob/master/vimrc
I think the advice to stay away from highly customized environments and hacks is really the way to go. A huge strength of vim is that you're going to find it on any server you end up using.
Disclosure: I didn't disable my arrow keys when I started with vim, but after a few months I did end up doing it to really brand the h/j/k/l movements in my mind.