hey Nick, what are you doing over here? get back to C&V were you belong!
I've been thinking of going on a long tour, too. Only I'm out of college, running a moderately successful home based enterprise, and am bored to death.
+1 on 26". Because of your height, and because you can find tubes even at backwoods hardware stores.
Another thing I learned during my crusty bike punk days was no bright flashy colors. Matte colors are best. Sometimes you want to just crash somewhere for the night, and its nice to be able to easily hide your bike on the side of the road.
One man tent is all you need. I had a really cool tent that would collapse into a rectangle which was small enough to fit behind a rear pannier. Cover the bike with a tarp, I've even used garbage bags I conned out of a mcdonlds clerk taped together.
I'm looking for a touring bike right now, thats actually why I popped in here, but as usual nothing new really appeals to me. I think its time to start searching out an old Trek or something.