For touring, I like small jumps between gears, and I would rather have a lower top end gear to bring the ratios together with a 17-18gi low gear.
My new Salsa Journeyman build is most likely going to get my 3x10 Tiagra gearset, because it effectively gives me really small gear jumps while using the STI shifters
For my future Bomtrack Beyond+ for bikepacking, I'll stick with the 1x12 though ... cannot find a front mech that deals with 2.8" tires LOL