without a doubt, less bike+load weight means less effort for the same distance, makes quite a difference with lots of climbing, and for a lot of us old geezers (most of us I suspect) it just makes a difference in enjoying the activity, especially with sometimes longer distances between campgrounds, or towns, or whatever.
I don't think there should be, within reason, a correlation between amount of effort and degree of enjoyment. During my recent trip, on some steep hills even if I had to push the last bit, I was extremely happy that I was out there with the stuff I had and able to keep moving, day after day. But I also learned that there is only so far I can go in a day. It turned out that while I was able to accomplish the planned daily segments, some of them required eight or nine hours of riding and had me arriving at my destination very close to nightfall. The most eventful day had me arriving at dusk, after a 10 hour hard, hilly ride, only to find the campsite I was racing to reach before dark was closed due to unforeseen circumstances. I was initially turned away by the male owner of the place only to be whistled back as I was discouragedly riding away after his angel of a wife learned of the situation and couldn't let me go off into the dark (which was a good thing since I'd not brought my main headlamp, not expecting to ride at night [to save weight ! ]).
So the important thing, for me, is to know how far I can go, with what I have, over the type of terrain I encounter, so as to arrive at an hour that gives me time eat and set up for the night. It's not the other way around where I'd figure what weight I should carry to able to be at a certain place at a certain time. In the same way, I plan to continue to train intensely over the winter to be a lot stronger come spring so that it'll be so much easier to move forward. Again, not by reducing weight, but by being stronger.
I've found that getting older I wish for more comfort, but that is in the opposite direction to less weight (which of course I wouldn't mind). I used to backpack with a 10+ lb Jansport Mountain Dome tent and a several pound Jansport Brass Bed sleeping bag, to then sleep on a 1/2" thick foam pad on solid rock on top of a mountain in the Adirondacks. I couldn't have been happier. Now I struggle on a bike with a 7 lb tent, a 1.5 lb sleeping bag and a 1 lb plush air mattress and inflatable pillow. But I'm very comfortable at night (a bit to my surprise).