One question that I know comes up every so often is...
"What bike would be good for touring if I have a tight budget?"
Of course "tight budget" could mean alot of different things to alot of different people. I did a search for the word "budget" and this is some of what i came up with...
If your budget is really tight (below $700), you might be best off upgrading a bike you already own. It may not be a true dedicated touring bike, but touring can and has been done on all sorts of bikes. Also, older and/or slightly used touring bikes can be found on ebay, craigslist, or even at local garage sales in your area.
If you have a little more cash on hand ($750-$950), the next step up would be one of the budget touring bikes from REI (Novara Randonee), Fuji (Fuji Touring), or Bianchi (Bianchi Volpe). REI often times has coupons (check the coupon forum on this site) for 10-20% off.
Next up from that (on up to about $1400) would be the Trek 520 (ready to tour with after swapping to lower geared crankset and a stronger rack), Cannondale T600 (??) or T800 (Aluminum bikes), or the Surly LHT (sold as a frame and then you build it up how you want it).
After that, things start getting expensive for the "budget shopper". There is the Bruce Gordon BLT, the Rivendell Atlantis, the Koga Miyata World Traveler, and I think Waterford's models are in the high end as well. Regardless of which bike you get, "most" tourers have steel frames with attachments for three water bottle cages, front and rear racks (mid-fork braze-ons), at least 36 spokes per wheel, drop style handlebars or flats with some sort of extension for more hand positions, and mtb gearing for hauling heavy loads up steep mountains.