Travel Tripod

[SnappingShark]

One other thing to think about is that you don't NEED a super sturdy tripod so long as you can MAKE it sturdy!

A lot of tripods these days have little hooks on the center down column of the tripod - allowing a bag or weight to be attached.

So if you also carry a large backpack, or even a smaller bag inside your backpack that you can fill with stones, water, clumps of mud while on location, you'll be good there too.

BUT I do like the advice about buying something you won't need to keep upgrading
Buying once for $500 could save you 3 different purchases and hassle of offloading older equipment. But that's sometimes part of the fun!