From all my research I can see people getting really hung up on equipment and yes it is important but it's not the most important thing. The most important thing is going to be my mental strength, and resilience.
Having the lightest equipment will make life a lot easier on the trail. But there is always going to be a balance between costs and weight.
I can’t afford to buy all new equipment and I can’t afford to get all the lightest equipment. I will have to get some new equipment but I can’t go crazy. There will also need to be elements of making do and having to go with what I have.
At the moment - I have a sleeping bag (Raidlight), a backpack (old from backpacking around South America), shoes (Trainers from MDS & old waking boots) and waterproofs (Tog 24 - from climbing Kilimanjaro!). I have a life proof case (New - Christmas present) for my iPhone 6 and that's about it!
There are certain things that I will have to buy, which are essential, but I will need to be very careful with how I spend my money as I'm doing this on a tight budget. At the moment my income is $290 a month and the majority of that goes towards funding the podcast. What I have left over will go towards buying equipment, which I will need to space out over a few months.
Big purchases I will have to make over the coming months:
Tent - Fly Creek UL2 with a footprint
Sleeping Mat - ThermaRest Neo Air (Ordered Feb)
Tracker - inReach Explorer®+
Extra battery charger
Other items
Water purification system either - Sawyer or Platypus Gravity Filter
Walking poles - Black Diamond Trail Trekking Poles (Ordered Feb)
Stove - MSR Pocket Rocket
Cooking pot & spork
Dry bags - Exped
Bear cord
Warm coat - RAB
If I have the funds I will get the following or else I will just make do!
New foot wear (Trail shoes)
New backpack - Arc Blast Backpack from Zpacks
Head torch - Black Diamond storm
Lightweight waterproofs
GoPro or Cannon G7X Camera
Sleeping bag liner - fleece
I will look into equipment further, but at the moment this is a good starting place!