Long distance bicycle touring

I had an epiphany the other day. It came when Alix and I were trying to lug our 50kg+ each of unwieldy luggage. How can something so efficient, adventurous, beautiful, sleek, quick and nimble as a fully loaded touring bicycle be reduced to such an unmanageable pile of luggage?

I got to thinking about some of those long distance, round-the-world, keep cycling till who knows when, to who knows where cyclists that we've come across in our travels. Perhaps their passion is born of simply NOT wanting to drag their crap onto taxis, buses and airplanes. The solution? Just keep cycling!

I've often thought that it would have been much less tiring to have spent a week or 2 cycling there when we load all of our stuff onto a bus to head from one part of Mexico to another for a bike tour. The same goes for our time in Greece where we're dragging around many more things for camping, plus souvenirs, etc...