Way to go with the rackless touring.
I interrupted my bike touring career with a decade of long-distance backpacking. I learned the value of a light load and applied that to the bike. I haven't gone rackless yet--I use a rear rack and two Arkel Drylite panniers. That lets me carry an occasional heavy load of food or water, and keep the same set-up for running some heavier errands around home.
Flying across the country is right! On my first shakedown tour with the light load, I easily rode back-to-back centuries. I never rode a century once in decades of heavily loaded touring before that. On a cross-US tour later that year, I rode 17 more centuries, smiling all the way.