Even on longer trips, where you might want to take food and a reasonable amount of spare clothing to avoid the chore of washing clothes too often, the RST will do you fine - the 17Kg limit is recommended for handling reasons only but will fine if you take a few kilo more, as long as it sensibly distributed between front and rear. My experience is that the RST handles better fully loaded with front panniers than just rear panniers (12 kg recommended max).
In case you haven't seen this, I think this might reassure ref buying an RST
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=2197.msg10524#msg10524I'd agree with other contributors that the Rohloff is noticeably better for hills/mountains than derailleurs - entirely predictable/reliable means that over a long climb, I've found it to be more ergonomic and quicker with a loaded bike and the ability to rip up and down gears easily for intensive descending/ascending is a bonus - you are simply more able to focus on your surroundings than worry about gear changes, making IMO a more rewarding touring experience.
PS. Yes you do need to ease off between 7-8, and very occassionally I get an unsmooth change under pressure between 4-5 (I think), but still far preferable to non Rohloff counterparts.
