I am in the planning stages of a journey across the U.S. I have done several ultra light tours but nothig longer than 600 miles or seven days. In each case I carried 8 lbs of gear, some water and a credit card.

This is will be my first self contained tour, and I estimate it will be about 3600 miles and will require about 70 days. I plan on carrying no more than 40 lbs, and that would make the total load (bike, gear and me) at 270 lbs. I have never used panniers or a trailer. I plan on camping roughly half of the nights and exercising the credit card the rest of the time. I foresee little or no off-roading, but I would like to take the Katy and similiar trails.

My current decision is whether to carry my gear in four panniers or on a trailer. I will carry a small handlebar bag either way. If I go with the trailer option-which one?