We bought our TeamTi700 in early spring 2001, after a couple years on a 1999 Trek T200. We have put 36,000 miles on it so far. My stoker has also got rid of her suspension seat post.
The Ti finish still looks great. There are a few scratches, but they can hardly be seen. The decals do have cracks in them. We have found the titanium to be much less noodly than the Trek.
We have done several week long tours with a B.O.B. trailer (everything but the food and cooking). There are times when we have to look back and make sure we still have the trailer there (except for going up hill when we notice the weight). We used rear panniers with the trailer once in the fall, and found little difference with how the bike handled. If you think front panniers may be needed, stick with the chromed cromoly fork. Since you are going to Europe, I'd get a set of 40 spokes wheels also.
Carbon Fiber bikes are great and I'd love to have a Beyond. But for the type of trip you are looking at, I'd stick with titanium. Carbon Fiber frames can be fragile when something happens to them beyond what they were designed for. Something like being struck buy an object, or the bike falling over and hitting something. I have a friend who cracked a Kestral frame in the bike shop when he fell off a set of rollers he was using to test the fit.
Rick