I am in Madison WI, upper midwest part of the country. Whenever I see someone riding with panniers front and rear, I ask where they are from and where they are going. In the process I often learn a lot more about them.

A couple years ago I met a woman that I would guess was in her late 50s or early 60s that had started in the UK, went through continental Europe, then Asia, flew across the Pacific to the west coast, and at this point had made it to Wisconsin and was on her way to the east coast. She had a bike brand that I had never heard of, it looked like maybe a $400 to $600 USD level bike. I asked her where she got the bike, she said that her Roberts that she started with in the UK was stolen in eastern Europe, the one she was riding was the only one that met her budget in eastern Europe.

I do not know if only her bike was stolen or if her entire kit was stolen, but a major theft in my opinion would be a pretty serious "worst thing" that could happen on an around the world tour. And in her case it happened during the first 20 percent of her trip so most of her trip was being done on a bike that I would not have had much trust in for that kind of trip.