I am not aware of any loggage problems with followers when giving them the removeallitems-treatement, I read about it, but after that treatement did noit see it. In fact this night I have sent Lydia home, loaded with tons of loot earned between Whiterun and Rifton until she could bear anymore, then had Mjoll packed with more loot after I continued to Rifton. We went to whiterun, and I sold my stuff, got Mjoll'S load, and sold that, sent her home, and rejoined Lydia, got her parcels, and then sold these. It all worked well.
But after just two days and nights of play, I have not seen much, mostly Whiterun and Rifton, and some of the icy North when doing the quest for Mjoll'S sword. Solitude I saw from a distance, Windhelm I bypassed during that quest, and Markath I have not even discovered so far. But many dungeons I stumbled over.
Bethesda is a master in distracting players from the main quest'S path.