>>2779583There's tons of good advice out there on this. I think the best stuff is in Mike Clelland's book Ultralight Backpackin' Tips. Don't get triggered but the word ultralight, it's a good book with solid advice. But the stuff on food is very good imo. For the first couple of weeks aim for like 2500 - 3000 cals a day, after that ramp it up.
Towns can be expensive, but time = money. If you can 'heroing' or 'neroing' is the best resupply strategy. Get in, have a meal, either at a diner or from the supermaket, once you've eaten do your resupply shop. When you've resupplied decide whether you want to stay in town or not. Ideally don't. Hostels suck imo, 30-40 dollars to sleep in a stuffy hot room full of people snoring. On the AT I ended up skipping hostels and saving the money so I could once in a while get a motel room to myself.
You don't need to zero either. People will go on about it but if you pace yourself right there is no need to take a whole day off from walking. I did the CDT last year and took three zeros. One was to get snow gear sorted for CO, the other two were to deal with off trial admin the cropped up while I was hiking.
Dunno about books, that'll come down to hiking style I suppose. I can't read on a long thru hike as I'm moving all day and fall asleep in a matter of minuets once I stop.
