Lots of food for thought here. The big question is I don't know how into this I am going to get. Will it just be two credit card trips a year where a Roubaix would be fine? Or will I get a taste for it and want to go deeper and need a "real" touring bike like the AWOL? Hard to know. Thanks for the info so far.
The one thing I'm sure of is I don't want to take my main Roubaix on these trips. I want to keep it safe for my usual rides. For anything where the bike is going to be chained up outside overnight, I want more of a beater bike. Not sure whether a Sora Roubaix or AWOL makes more sense there.