I like to pack lightly with a saddlebag and handlebar bag to make the cycling bit of touring more fun and to make it easy to transport my bike and gear. If you want to carry a lot of gear panniers or a trailer are your two options, but they are a pain if you want to take your gear off the bike or ship your stuff on a plane, bus or train. I recently toured in Iceland and packed my bike and most of my gear into a Ground Effect Tardis bag for the flight. It weighed 40lbs so was under the weight limit and IcelandAir didn't even charge me the fee for shipping a bike. Carrying the saddlebag and handlebar bag off the bike was easy too.