To an extent it's about what you want out of the bike, '
gzoom' rode a fast lightweight bike with no guards or pannier rack and that seems to have worked for him. Others may prefer a bike that can take luggage and muduards with lower gearing, of which there are many varieties, some are heavier duty than others. In reality as long as you have a bike set up to do what you want it do you then that's the correct choice, all you need to do is work out what that is exactly; then find some that cater for that.
Personally in 2001 I chose to ride
Lejog on a steel fast touring bike and still ride something similar in 2020 but in Titanium, they tick all the boxes for me, quick enough, robust enough, comfortable enough and with the capacity for guards and a pannier rack. These aren't heavy duty touring bikes which by design are set up to carry heavy loads, in the past that market was catered for with more traditional tourers like the Dawes Galaxy and Raleigh Royal and Randonneur ranges, that for years very popular choices for touring. Bikes like those are less common place these days, although there are a few, the Trek
520, Genesis have a '
Tour range' as do
Ridgeback, although for many brands that market is catered for with their Gravel bikes ranges that can be set up along the lines of traditional touring bikes with guards and racks and larger volume tyres.
If I were looking for an entry level bike along the lines of style of bike that I like to ride I would be considering a
Genesis Equilibrium in steel, (my
Van Nicholas Yukon that I bought in 2007 has effectively evolved into the
Yukon Disc) marketed without guards and pannier rack but both can fitted; it is in many ways the current version of a style of bike I have always enjoyed. For me it bridges the gap between a heavier duty tourer or gravel bike and the fast lightweight bike that '
gzoom' enjoys.
The Genesis is more of an investment than the
Giant AR3 that
'Uke22' referenced in the OP, a bike that also looks viable, although I would like to see how the pannier rack is secured, yes it references one can be fitted in the links via
Dogtrousers post but not on the Giant website where it references "
compatible with fenders" with no mention of pannier rack. Looking at the pictures I can't see the usual threaded rack mount holes the outside of the seat stays, I'd imagine the two on the inside are for an aftermarket bridge to be added to secure a mudguard, you could potentially use those to secure a rack but then you'd have to find a way to secure the mudguard. There may well be a way of course, if the Bike Radar review is correct then they do reference the mounts as "integrated" so the fact I can't see how you'd secure a rack would be understandable