You can get your weight way down from 30 pounds, for basic gear. My basic backpack weighs under 10 pounds, and the gear is as comfortable in fair weather as anything out there. I packed about 35 pounds for my recent 1600km, but it does creep up with water and food added, which as already pointed out can be a big variable. nontheless, I had everything I needed, and several things I didn't, so I probably could have gone 25-30 pounds.
I ran into some people who chose non-touring/hybrid style bikes for their cross country tours. Basically because they prefer to ride those kinds of bike, or because they figured a real touring bike would be expensive (not true). It certainly is expensive if you already own a good bike.