I'm almost 75. I am overweight by 40 pounds. My conditioning, well, sucks.

I live where a six mile circuit results in 1300 feet of climbing. I sometimes need all the gearing I can get.

Currently my two bikes have 22T front chainrings and 36T cassettes. My gearing varies from 17 gear inches to a little over 100. The 100 is okay since I coast downhill anyway.

This may seem strange to some of you leaner, fitter and younger folks, but: I look forward to fitting a 42T rear cog and getting a little less than 15 gear inches.
Because: --- I intend to do some traveling while pulling a trailer (Extra Wheel, https://www.bikeshophub.com/trailers...ers-c-140.html). I'll travel light, giving myself no more than 20KG for both trailer and gear. I'm pretty sure I'll use the gearing in the mountains.

Consider:
Too low gearing might be an irritation if you end-up not using it. However, Too tall gearing might actually hurt and reduce your touring happiness. And, happiness is what touring is all about.

Joe