Great lighter-weight travel bike there Steele - I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun on it!

fwiw. I wouldn't bother with a climbing-frame of 'crash bar' tubes on that bike - they are not especially vulnerable unless you're a real clutz - I'd fit some strong back-bone hand-guards (Barkbusters are good, with their Storm shields for travelling), and perhaps consider replacing the OEM handlebars with a set of Fat-bars - either Renthal RC bend (#604), or some ProTapers to your preference*.

*note the Renthal RC (Ricky Carmichael) bend profile has more space for the grips/switchgear/levers than ProTaper's CR bend.

I'd also consider fitting some kind of strong (metal) skid plate instead of the plastic OEM panels if you're planing on riding in rocky terrain (Morocco etc) - some people simply chop the lower plastic fairing panels off the Rally model and fit an L skid plate, or there are metal 'over' plates for the Rally, but they do cost a lot more and reduce ground clearance further.

Finally, as you surmise - if you're planning on carrying any amount of luggage on these bikes, then the stock rear shock really does need replacing with something better/more stiffly sprung and with better [adjustable] damping too - and similarly once you've done the rear end, it will highlight how little damping there is in the front end too.

You mention you're considering the Rally-Raid LEVEL 1 set up, and I can wholeheartedly recommend that of course (I have it fitted to two of my own CRF300s) - not least as you surmise, there really isn't the need to have quite so much overall travel/high seat height if you're mainly all-terrain touring on this bike, but adjustable damping and preload are the two things which you will certainly appreciate, and in that regard I'd consider including their remote hydraulic preload adjuster on the rear shock too - it will pay dividends if you regularly swap between loaded and solo on these lighter weight bikes.

Looking forward to hearing where you take this new bike!

Jenny x

ps. if you want a little more info. about fitting the RR suspension, plus some other suggestions regarding parts and accessories which do work well on these bikes, I have a thread over on ADVrider*: Preppa-Pig[let] - where I catalogued my two builds, together with some ride reports from last spring and summer (2022) proving just how versatile and capable these 300s are. (*I trust Grant will let a link to another forum slide in this instance, not least as all this content makes up many of my HU presentations of course ;o)