sounds overambitious to me.
You haven't toured carrying your own stuff before, you'll be over 10,000 feet all the time, and you'll be in a different culture/country.
I realize that this is a plan for a year away, but what's the story with a three day ride? Will you be there for a planned work event or something?
easy answer to your question is that you will need to get lots of riding experience with a touring load before this trip to see yourself how it goes for you, not to mention experience with what things to buy, how to pack. Depending on where you live, still might not address the high altitude thing.
Altitude sickness can be weird, one person can be fine, and another really fit young guy can be seriously affected.
Overambitious? Yeah probably, but that doesn't mean I can't do it and make it back in one piece. I'm driven, stubborn, and tend to always figure things out one way or another. Plus I have a lot of time to train AND learn as much as possible between now and next May/June.
Why the 3 day ride? Why the heck not? No work involved, this will be all about pleasure and exploration.
Good call about getting in some good touring load experience...I'm not even sure what that means yet but based on some of these responses this is clearly something I need to figure out. I will be sure to fit a lot of that into my training. I currently only have a road bike (2015 Specialized Tarmac Sport) and I do not have panniers. Do most panniers work on a road bike and a touring bike? The reason i ask is because I'll likely get the panniers sooner than I would get the touring bike, and I would like to know if they can be swapped from one styled bike to the other.
Regarding altitude, this does have me a little concerned. I currently live in NYC so I'm at sea level. However, as mentioned in my OP, I have never really dealt with serious problems adjusting to high levels. Shortness of breath and a slight headache for maybe a ½ a day then I'm back to normal. The plan would be to fly into a part of the country that's north of 13K and spend a MINIMUM of 48 hours taking it easy and allowing time to acclimate to the elevation.