Do what you want, but I think you should do it the way you used to, then no damage occurs if you accidentally shift into the big and big gear. But, if you plan to use a chain that is too short on a bike tour, it would be a good idea to bring a few spare links and a second quick link in case you find you had a disaster.

Several years ago I was out doing a century ride with a local bike club. There was a small crowd standing around a bike on the side of the road. I stopped to ask if they needed a wrench or something. The bike owner said it was the strangest thing, both front and rear derailleurs broke at exactly teh same time. I said that was impossible and got off my bike to look. Then I tried to backpedal, and the crank would not turn. And that is when I noticed it was on the big and big, rear cage was pulled really tight on the chain. I told him to pop the wheel out and put it in a different gear to put it together, and avoid that gear until he could get to the mechanic that made his chain too short. He had a ***** of a time even getting the wheel out because it was jammed so tight, but he got it out. It appeared to shift ok, so he got rolling again. I did not see him for the rest of the day, so I have no clue if anything else was damaged or not.

But if he bent the cage, the cage could have gone into the spokes later, the deraileur hanger could have snapped off, all kinds of things could have gone quite badly.