I try and buy food every day - preferably as close to the end of the ride as possible. If I know there's not going to be a chance to shop I'll carry extra food. Of course, there are always a few miscellaneous things in my food bag - the second half of a bag of salad, packets of instant oatmeal because they come in boxes of twelve, some good coffee, etc.

I only carry one spare tube. I have few flat issues - since I put Schwalbe Marathons on my LHT I haven't had one in three tours. Normally, when you get a flat you can fix it with a patch kit, so I put the new one on and keep the one with the puncture as a backup. I did tear out a stem once, but was able to make it to a bike shop before getting a flat in the backup tube. Even if I had, the chances are slim that it would have been another unpatchable problem, so I would have been able to patch it and keep riding.

I also have back problems. I bought a Big Agnes Insulated Air-core air mattress and it solved my problems. Occasionally I get a little sore, but a couple of ibuprofens and it's not an issue.

If insects are going to be a problem, I suggest you buy some repellant before you leave home. I forgot on my just-completed tour. When I tried to buy some on the road, all I could find was a big aerosol can. It was fine, but heavier than I would like. It's always good to save an ounce or two when you can, right?

On a tour of only 3-4 days you can probably stay clean. On longer tours when I'm camping it gets hard. Often campgrounds don't have showers, and when they do I often don't have any clean clothes to put on. I just resign myself to the fact that I'm going to be grubby and gross. Having only one shirt and pair of shorts would be no big deal on a short tour.

I don't like dehydrated meals - partly because I'm diabetic and it's hard to find ones that aren't loaded with sugar. I carry a loaf of bread, a small jar of peanut butter, and a tube of sugar-free jam. I make PB&J sandwiches for snacks. In a pinch I can have them for dinner - if I'm expecting to buy food and can't find any. I did that once - ate 2 PB&J sandwiches for dinner. It wasn't that bad.