Oh my, I'm so pleased to see all the feedback, even the ones implying my dumb youth, but I digress, it's true to an extent, this is a potentially dangerous and reckless adventure I hope to pursue, but it's replies like these that help me better prepare myself for what lies ahead. I have been considering doing the biking thing, I'll need to start bettering my physical condition for that though (I'm not terribly out of shape, but I'll need to stop smoking, and do some preparations to do so) and I agree that it's a lot more productive distance-wise.

I was also thinking about the lodging issue, and again, my dumb youth kicks in, and assures me that if I keep everything well planned that I hopefully won't be stuck in a desolate area by nightfall (I'm actually a hardcore insomniac so walking at night isn't an issue, as potentially dangerous as it may be) Someone brought up that walking highways are dreadfully boring, and it sounds like a lame reply to this but I own several media players, loaded with music, and I have literally watched an entire day go by just getting lost in my music, I'm sort of easy that way.

And judging by distance of highways and long stretches of sightless walking, I want to do a bit of greyhounding.

At this point it sounds like hydration is a major aspect, and while it was on my mind, I suppose I hadn't focused enough on it, does anyone have any simple solutions to keeping water with me? Are camelbacks good/can they be used in unison with a backpacking pack? (Not sure of the technical term for a backpacking pack aha..)

Planning is going to be the biggest part for me, I realize this, I have no specific time I want to do this trip, just before my life starts falling into place and I start adopting more fiscal responsibilities, thus rendering a trip of this magnitude more difficult to do.

I hear people saying that hitch hiking is a no go, and I was afraid that would be the case, so I never really put to much faith in that idea (I am 6'2" and medium set, so I'm not a small guy anyways, not sure if that matters to serial killers and such though xD)

Talking to friends and family about the potential of this trip, I keep hearing the word GPS come up, and I know that should be essential, as well as an atlas and a compass (I learned how to read maps while preparing for my continental divide trip) Any input on the navigation portion?

Again, I have to thank everyone for their words of advice I'm nowhere near ready, but having this sort of help is really quite... well... helpful