totally love what youre doing and how youre doing it! and you are spot on realizing that safety is important.
i went in the navy at 17 and after bootcamp, drove from san diego to groton, ct. i had a pontiac sunbird and i'd sleep in it at rest areas and spent most of my time driving across the country taking in the sights. i had zero camp gear, but had an amazing time and learned a lot, so gear really isnt that big a deal. i remember curling up in the floorboard and resting my head on the seat to sleep. im sure my neck hurt, but nearly 40 yrs later and all i remember is the cool stuff i saw and how good it felt doing it on my own at such a young age. it definitely gave me confidence for later in life...
the best advice i could give would be to always pay attention. be alert to whats going on around you. if youre driving, check your mirrors and look at gauges and pay attention to sounds and smells. a lot of people just hop in a vehicle and crank up the tunes and go...a wheel could be falling off and they'd never know until the car ends up in the ditch. a lot of vehicle problems give warning signs prior to catastrophic failure, so paying attention can solve 90% of problems. also pay attention to people and surroundings. if you are in a area by yourself and you get a weird gut feeling...pay attention to it and leave. i used to go overseas at a very young age and ended up by myself at times. i always paid attention and blended in. other guys would be out and about in a bad area wearing expensive shoes and jewelery and would get beat and robbed. gotta think ahead
its actually a good habit you will just perfect over time. i get gas and while im pumping, i look at my tires and just give the vehicle a once over. maybe i see a wire loose under the vehicle or a piece of trim about to come lose. i say this is the most important skill to have because no matter how much gear you carry or how many tools you have, if you arent paying attention, you will definitely have problems. just think ahead. my sons are in college and barely older than you. i have seen some of their buddies just jump into a muddy creek without even thinking that maybe there is a submerged tree with a branch that will impale them, or whatever. scares me to death knowing people will just blindly do things. kind of like vehicles driving off into a large mud puddle. it could be 1 foot deep or 10. if you dont know, maybe just avoid it or at least take a stick and walk it out before driving into it. not taking unnecessary risk also falls into that...
sounds like you are going to have a great time and experience some great stuff!
best wishes
