Aha, so glad this is relevant to you!

I got so much unsolicited advice before and during my trip 😂

I'm sure much of it was well-intentioned, but holy crap did people come at with with super-self-assured confidence that they knew the True Way To Do Things ...

My general rule is: a) listen to everyone's advice politely, then b) experiment with lots of things, and ultimately c) pick the stuff that works for you and ignore the rest, heh.

My theory is, if you're successfully traveling the distances you want to travel and you're not injuring your body (and you're being reasonably safe on the road), then stick with whatever you're doing, no matter how many folks tell you you're Doing It Wrong

Oh, and, for what it's worth, during my cross-country trip I met several folks who did the entire 4,000-mile journey on flat pedals. They never clipped in. And they got where they were going!