My 1st over-nighter was a two week solo 1200 miler from Panama City, Florida to Waterloo, Iowa in 1976. I was 18 years old and rode a Raleigh Grand Prix. I am now 53 and still love to tour. I wrote about that original trip on CrazyGuyOnABike here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...doc_id=497&v=5