When I started into this stuff there was no internet. I was a poor college kid with an old Van. I had a Rand McNally Campground Atlas. There weren't even Cell Phones like we have today. So the data crunch wasn't
so toxic.
In the first link in my signatures you will see how I went about setting up my van for week end camping and day trips to nearby Big Cities. Just a bed, a kitchenette, and ice chest. Most of the time I didn't try to cook food but rather made sandwiches and had cold soda and cold pasta salads I could stow in the ice chest. I could stop and make simple sandwich lunches and dinners. For breakfast it was cheaper to buy it at McDonalds.
If I went on the road when school was out during the summer, I could use the camp ground atlas to find places to stay over night. Many of these had bath houses, laundry coin op's, and the like.
It was just that simple back then, and if anyone wanted to do it that way again today they could. As you enter each state there is usually a Tourist Information Center where you can get all kinds of info. If you know how to use a computer but don't have one, you can visit a Public Library and show your drivers license and they will most likely all you to use one of their public computers. There you could look up the websites listed in the State publications and print out any info you would like to use in your travels through the State.
As for all of the equipment you are reading about, Solar, House Batteries, Generators, heating & A/C, etc
you may not really need that stuff to rough camp and travel.
If you started out early in the morning you could stop at McDonalds for breakfast and watch a TV there to get the news & weather report. Use the restroom while there and then get on the road. Stop my a discount Grocery Store and get some Ice and sandwich stuff and go on your way. Stop somewhere and
fix some sandwiches and relax for a bit before driving on. By about 2pm start looking for a place to spend the night or at least a few hours to take a nap. If it is miserable hot, park at a Walmart and go in and shop around the store in the air conditioning until dark. Buy and read a newspaper or magazine. Often there are
McDonalds in the Walmarts and if you buy a drink, you can refill it several times. Then go back to your Van
and bed down for the night.
All of these extras you read about are things people with skills have designed and devised to make their lives easier in camp and prolong their stays away from "civilization". Some people are into that.
Others you read here speak of a minimalist life with few possessions where each item gives multiple uses.
So they get a lot of benefits from a few handy things.
The choice of how you would like to live is up to you. Not all of us go on the road like we are going to
homestead. The choice of how you travel is yours. So just relax and slowly absorb info and you'll do just fine.