My advice is try to keep your gear as light as possible. I went down the path of heavy equipment and although it's great once set up, the whole process of breaking down transporting and setting up then repeating once finished is a real onerous chore and over time I have found I just don't bother.
It is a good idea to have your main scope set up for when you are heading to dark skies for a length of time and also having a lesser set up for some easy casual observing - the best of both worlds so to speak.
Some great lightweight setups can be had on the classifieds for a very reasonable cost too.
