My children have watched RATW. The oldest was 9 when it first started. To me, the benefits far outweigh any occasional expressions of frustration.
When I went travelling, I had a 65l+ rucksack with a 25l bag on the front and DH had a 75l bag and 30l day bag. We were in multiple climates from steamy 35⁰C humidity to sub-zero mountains and deserts. We did have to take more than people who stuck to conventional hot climate routes such as China, Cambodia, Laos. We weren't constantly moving on so generally used the day bags unless travelling on.
Our kindness of strangers moment was at the Three Gorges Dam. We booked a cruise which was one-way and found out on the boat that there was no onward transport. No public transport serves it and it's only pre-hired coaches that can access it. Fortunately we'd already befriended a group of Mauritians on a big organised tour. Many spoke English, but I'd also been practising my French with some of the older members of our group who didn't speak English. They'd been impressed that we were travelling spintaneously and when they heard about our predicament, offered us seats in their coach to the nearest town for free which was very much appreciated.
This was in the phase of the 2000s when it was pre-smart phone, pre-kindle and too expensive to take a Nokia. Internet cafes were a god-send. It was still fairly manual to go travelling. We literally had a flight in, a flight out, a passport of visas, some Lonely Planets and the first 4 nights booked in way of planning and the rest was worked out on the way. The great bit about that was being able to get tips on the way about lesser known places, avoid over-hyped tourist traps and swerve the logistical difficulties of festivals/ events.
I love travelling vicariously from my sofa watching RATW 😁