Our local college has an outdoor leadership major. Occasionally, they have camping trips and other trips the public can sign up for. Maybe your college has something similar. Your college might have someplace to rent gear.

Many people start by car camping and taking day hikes from the camping spot. This makes the camping gear less critical because you can always go home if it's not working out. You don't even need a tent in many areas. If it starts to rain, just go home.

Others start out by hiking and never get around to backpacking. Our local hiking club is like that.

It helps to break things down into segments and go from there.

This is an excellent book and it's only $2.99 for Kindle. If you don't have a Kindle, you can read it on a computer, most tablets, and many phones. It should give you everything you need in one place.