I was a poor college student at the time and had very, very little money. I also didn't have a rack, so bought a $5 cheapie from K-Mart - it fell apart right away and I spent the rest of the tour stuffing sticks into the screw hole to hold it together. I didn't have panniers so strapped a couple of stuff sacks to my bike.

So - don't go with K-Mart quality stuff. You don't need high end, really expensive stuff for a short tour, but cheap cheapies aren't worth it.