Need some advice from some seasoned travellers

[wunderin]

Hi, first time posting here and I’m sorry if my post comes off as long winded but I’ve been doing a lot of research and planning to start traveling myself. My ideal plan is to just live off of a small backpack and just… start walking away I suppose. I’d like to head toward the east coast (U.S) and just walk along the beaches and where ever else I decide later on but just backpacking beaches as a start. I’d like to think of this as a cross of backpacking/ being a surf-bum.

I got a gear list of all the stuff I’d think I’d need but I still have a few questions since I’ve never done this before.

1) I would be traveling mostly on beaches and don’t plan on sleeping in hotels, but rather sleeping there on the beach, but was wondering what the most ideal and safe way to camping overnight would be? (Tents come to mind but aren’t they too heavy to keep in a backpack?)

2) I calculated the cost of all the materials I’d need and it came up to about ~$1000        for the gear/necessities. I’m still saving up since I work a minimum wage job (working on getting another though) but is this a reasonable start up cost or am I spending too much/little?

3) I’ve assumed up until now that I would be traveling in a small 22-28 liter backpack and not those huge ones that you’d normally assume the ‘mountain men’ carry. Am I correct here or am I being delusional? A second part to this question is considering the way I’m going to be traveling, what’s the general weight one’s pack should weigh about when filled with all of the gear and necessities?

Just a few questions I had, sorry again if this is a bit long-winded but I’ve had this whole thing on my mind for years now and want to get out there as soon as I can.

[Greg]

Hey Wunderin'...sounds very Dharma Bums to me (check out the book if you haven't) 

Not sure about camping on beaches in the US actually. Legal? Safe? I did it in Borneo last year, but no idea about doing it in my own country!

I'm carrying a 50L pack -- but nowhere near full -- for my big trip. I left home with it at around 12 KG, but a lot of that is work crap like camera and laptop goodies.

Tents are indeed heavy. Something to check into for camping vagabonding -- I've met several people just carrying a lightweight tarp that can be rigged into different kinds of shelter. They have 550 cord and some light stakes. Some also had hammocks to get off the ground, then run a cord between the trees above you, drape the tarp, then stake down the corners. Presto...a hovering tent.

[zhinnn]

As far as camping on the beach i'm gonna say it's a no-go. I tried camping on a few beaches in Virginia this summer and was awakened by the sound of a cop telling me to get the hell outa there. He let me off easy and I had already camped several nights before that in the same place.
Of course, you should check the laws cause they might be different in other states and sleepin on the beach is awesome!