Even when on vacation my job as a network admin, means I may have to remote in to our systems while on the rode, so I take a laptop on trips as well. For this I currently have been using a Windows Surface Pro 4 with the keyboard. Mine is middle of the pack on the specs that were available on the Surface Pro 4, 8GBs of RAM and 256GB ssd, Intel i7 processor. Its a full laptop but small like a tablet. It has good battery life but I also take a small power inverter. This is the inverter I use.
I usually will take one of my firm's mobile hotspots with me for internet access, so I basically get free internet on the road as long as I have cell service.

Here is a pic when I did have to do something on a trip. I just used my luggage rack as my "desk".

 

OP: This post is worth re-reading. Coast to coast two up on a Sportster with a duffel bag to hold their gear. No need at all for anyone to ever get hung up because they don't have the "right" bike or the "right" gear. Like an old timer told me a long time ago when I was heading out on my first trip: "If you're having fun, you're doing it right."

 

I live in deep south Alabama so anything higher than a mole hill is a mountain to us! For the past seven years or so son-in-law and I have made a pilgrimage out west; initially to the Sturgis rally (never again) but then just out west somewhere usually winding up in the Black Hills. In year three son-in-law couldn't make it and I wasn't sure I wanted to travel alone but I said 'what the hell....'. When I left, I told the wife that I may not like this and might be back in two hours. Well nothing was further from the truth. Best vacation I ever had.I rode tilll I was tired, ate when I was hungry and went when and where I wanted to go. I am a traveler and not a tourist. I won't be stopping downtown to see the stuffed jackalope or big ball of twine. I'll be the one riding past. I never worried about security but I was packing also.
This country is absolutely spectacular and pictures just can't even begin to show the majesty.
I never wanted to be the old man sitting on the porch saying 'Boy I wish I had (fill in the blank)'.
YMMV
Hoggly

 

I read through this entire thread and to be honest I have some pretty serious concerns for the OP. Thread started when he was planning a trip and here we are 4 years later when he revives it and is still asking the same questions. This gives me pause that he may or may not have learned anything in the past 4 years from any of the advice given then. So not to be offensive but I would say plan for cost and do not camp. Staying off the interstate makes for better riding but due to comfort level you may want to parallel the big road just for approximation to services.

I am going to be doing something similar to this in 2020. Not sure where I am going yet. Thought about taking a long trip to go visit some old friends but I may also just meander. I won't be camping. I would love to but I have to have my cpap for sleeping and don't want to mess with batteries and recharging. I have been looking through threads like this looking for ideas on where to go but still can't quite get anything to really spark my interest. I guess it may just be a direction and not a destination.

I truly hope your trip works out. No matter what you decide, if you do a bit of homework up front to prepare yourself you will do fine. Remember, a credit card and cell phone are still your best backup plan. I think you are already on the right track as you are asking the right questions up front.

This book is a little out dated but still one of the best learning tools for this sort of thing that I have found. Many of the things I already knew but there were a lot of smaller details that I had not thought of. It's cheap and you can get paperback or kindle version from amazon. I wish I could remember who I loaned my copy to.