Lots of nice tips, thanks!

I do have an issue with taking too much sometimes, so it's definitely something to work on. I am planning for sure once I have everything on the list laid out and ready to slowly go through it all and weigh it and try to cut down as much as possible, but some of this stuff already helps!

Cutting it down to 40kg for all the luggage weight AND the contents seems nearly impossible though. (I'm counting my camping gear and spare parts here as well).
I have test packed my panniers already, and I managed to fit everything apart from clothes (i.e. spare parts, consumables, camping gear, toiletry, cooking gear, etc.) in and I'm already at 16kg (including empty Rotopax, so full it'll be 20kg) + 22kg for the other pannier.
And that's not including any kind of clothing. My spares and camping gear weigh a lot, also the panniers themselves.

I'm guessing it'll be about 60kg altogether.

Luckily, I do have a light bike. Dry weight is 153kg, so wet, +4l oil +20l fuel I would say 177kg, make it 190kg (probably overestimated) with all kinds of mods like crashbars and luggage rack. With 60kg luggage, I'm at 250kg total, which doesn't seem too crazy?

Btw, I was considering the tank panniers mostly for light stuff that comes and goes, like some food shopping on the way that I can easily store away, but not really fill them up carefully. I'd like to have a bit of space easily accessible dedicated to random stuff rather than always having to figure out how to get a shopping bag tied up again.

It's a good idea actually to leave the stuff that I might not really need and if I end up needing it, buying it and consider it a souvenir! I hate buying souvenirs for the sake of it, so this is perfect .

I have a superlight and thin cheap chinese bike cover that doesn't take much space when rolled up, and I like it for the security illusion, not for protection against the weather elements (so the footprint doesn't work for me). I am planning now and then to spend some time in a city as well, and if I can't figure out a safe place for parking, like when I might be just passing through and going on a walk, a cover hiding all the flashy things seems like a good idea.

I'm assuming I'll have to work real hard on cutting my clothes list down.
Can't cut down on too much anymore for the rest I think. It'll be a challenge

But I'll be staying in Sofia with friends for a week on the way, so I might indeed ship some things back then or just leave them there...