Originally Posted by
staehpj1
The thing is that folks carry what they feel they need. I was down below 15 pounds of gear and bags on my last tour (San Diego to Sarasota), but I met lots of very experienced tourists who prefer to carry as much as 80-100 pounds and occasionally someone who carries even more than that. Some of these folks have many tours under their belts and know what works for them. They just prefer to take all that stuff.
I don't get it, but that doesn't matter. They don't get what I do either.
Ultralight works very well for me. Ultra heavy works well for some.
I think it's the same with the "stuff" we accumulate in our life time based on society's expectation and our own illusion of what makes us happy. I know a lot of my friends who own big nice houses, nice luxury cars (Mercedes Benz, Porsche etc) and have lots of money and somehow they are just not very happy. They need more or they want even more. I don't get it, but that doesn't matter. They need these stuff to fuel an illusion of their own happy lifestyle and that usually permeates onto what they do on tours. There are many experienced travelers who tour with lots of money and stay in expensive motels and get to see almost the same things as someone who tour with a cheap bike and stay in a tent and eat bread and soup every night.