Traveling the Country in 6 Months?

Hello all, I am in the very very beginning stages of planning a huge 6+ month road trip of the western U.S. (namely Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, etc). I will be graduating from The Ohio State University this coming May and have always told myself I would take a summer or more off before I start my career and settle in to the rest of my life lol.

I am very outdoorsy and also a cheapskate so I plan on cooking 90% of my meals, and camping (sleeping in my truck), hiking, and seeing National/ State Parks for the vast majority of the time. I have camped from my trucks often and am no stranger to a long road trip, but nothing for longer than a few weeks. I am mainly planning on sticking to regular roads and forest service roads - maybe a few trails here and there with people that know what they are doing.

I have a '19 SR AC with some modest upgrades and I know I will need to get a cap, rack system, awning, fridge, road shower, and other odds and ends to make this happen.

I guess all this is to say I am looking for any and all advice, whether it's; places to see, what upgrades I NEED to do on my truck to make it ok to live out of for half a year, budgeting, literally anything. I am in the very beginning stages of this trip and I want to make sure I think of everything before I go and do it!

- Also I really want to pack as light as possible for simplicity sake.

Thanks in advance for the advice!