Originally Posted by
HendersonD
Thanks for everyone's input. I purposefully left out some details in my first post. I have only done on bike tour, an 8 day, 420 mile tour with 9 friends. Loved it but it was uneventful in terms of anyone having difficulties or really bad weather. That certainly could change on a 3 month trip. I am retired and have the time and the money to do the Transamerica route. Being locked into a schedule with 13 other people could get tough given the length of time for the entire trip. I am doing a solo bike tour from my house outside of Rochester, NY, to Pittsburg via roads and then to DC via the GAP and C&O canal trail. It will be a 13 day ride in September with about half camping and half hotels. I will likely decided on how to handle the Transamerica tour after this shorter jaunt but I am leaning towards a solo cross country ride next summer
When I did GAP and C&O, we spent two full days in DC sightseeing before leaving. We stayed at the HI Hostel in DC. That was in 2013 before covid, I have no clue how hostels are running these days with covid, but I can say that before covid that hostels were a great way to travel for a solo retired person. Cheap, you can be as social or as anti-social as you like, etc. And that trip gave me two full days to spend in Smithsonian.
Bonus since you will be assembling your kit to travel solo - my solo cook kit in the photo. This includes my butane stove, but if I am traveling domestic, I might be more inclined to bring a liquid fuel stove instead.
Starting top row on left, working to right, butane stove, pasta strainer, small measuring cup, small mug (single wall, can also use as a small pot on stove), green plastic bowl nests in pot, plastic bottle in it is for instand coffee and it nests in my coffee mug, lower/middle row on left, small cheese slicer, spatula, another spatula, vintage can opener, spoon and fork, knife with sheath, cork screw (most important), stove windscreen above pot support, the plastic coffee can lid under pot gripper and wood spoon is my cutting board, big titanium pot about 1.2 liters (roughly) above and to right of it is a small fry pan (upside down and in plastic bag to protect non-stick surface) that nests in the pot, and lower right is coffee mug (double wall).
If you buy a liquid fuel stove, you should be aware that travel by airplane is a major hassle.
https://www.msrgear.com/blog/flying-...camping-stove/
Have a great time.