One of my friends is currently in South America, he's cycling around the world and has already gone across Europe, Asia, and Australia. He talks a bit about his bike setup here:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=tS&page_id=402230&v=9tIt's worth noting that he had been mountain biking for years before he started this and had also done a couple of shorter cycle tours. You don't necessarily need all this experience, but if you don't have it you should make an extra effort to familiarise yourself with everything on the bike.
