Hello

[Myechtatel]

Hello, I'm Olive. I just started traveling with my girlfriend and dog. A couple months ago we took a greyhound(never doing that again!) to Atlanta and hitched to Athens, Ga. We stayed there for a while, met lots of travelers and learned the ropes. We eventually made it to North Carolina and then back home to Kissimmee, FL which is just south of Orlando. We learned a lot from our tripped and immediately planned our next one. We got a bunch of sweet new gear and are leaving again tomorrow to hitchhike to Gainesville, FL. We're gonna hang out there for a few days and the go to Ocala for our first Rainbow Gathering.
I've used this site a couple times and found it to be very helpful. There are not a whole lot of resources out there. Anyway, I figured I would join and meet some people and share my experience and experiences. I am pretty new to this but I do know a lot about gear. I am pretty passionate and I'm always looking for better gear and ways to cut down on weight and space. I've made a couple mistakes with gear and really regretted it. When you're living on the streets your backpack and tent(if you use a tent) is your home and it's really worth it to spend a little more money and get some quality hiking stuff.
Anyway, Just wanted to introduce myself. See you in the forums!

 

[jpitcher]

Hi Olive, what do you use for sleeping when you're on the road? I'm in the northeast so I'm relegated to using a bag but I'm curious if you can get away with blankets in the south. Or, are they too heavy? Also, what are you using for a pack? Also into gear!!

 

[Nyte]

In general, a bag is always gonna pack smaller than blankets, unless you use small stuff.

 

[Myechtatel]

Sorry about the delayed response. I just got back from Gainesville and The Ocala rainbow gathering. I use a Kelty Trekker 3950 external frame bag. I absolutely love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I highly reccomend it to any traveller. My sleeping bag is a Sleepcell +40 bag. It's very hard to find, I've tried googling it but I really love it because it's about 1lb, it has vents on both sides that you can zipper open or closed, it zips up the middle and it's a lot more roomy than a mummy bag but it's not rectangle either. It also has a hood and came with an inflatable pillow and has a sleeve for it. I you can believe it me and my girlfriend got them from Academy sporting goods in GA for $30 a piece. I also carry a fleece liner whcih adds some warmth. It got pretty cold in Gainesville though. One night it got to about 15 degrees and we were in full dress and jackets with both sleeping bags and one of those emergency cellophane type blankets. Don't underestimate the winter in North Florida. I think we'll be alright from now on but we're definitely getting 0 or 10+ rated bags next winter.