Originally Posted by cyccommute

For 10 or 20 overnights, that trailer is going to be adequate. For a cross country trip, not so much.

That said, I have trailers and have used them for mostly off-road touring. I also tried one while training for a road tour. I'm not a huge fan. In my experience, they have a negative effect on the handling. They push the rear end around in odd ways that you aren't used to. Under heavy breaking on a downhill, the trailer lifts the rear of the bike and makes it feel vague. This is on fairly steep downhills, however.

Panniers perform better in my opinion but a trailer will do. Just be aware of the handling issues and adjust accordingly.