Ok, I was toying with the idea of putting a 44 on the rear before I take the bike to spain in the spring, with the thought maybe that it would drop the revs slightly for big roads and motorways.
My concern was that I would have a fairly well laiden bike 2up, and spain has hills. Would I be doing the right thing? would 1 tooth at the rear make enough difference to make hills an issue with a loaded bike?
one more...

and does fuel consumption change with different sprocket ratios?
When I think of how a pushbike works, higher gear might be less revs on the pedals, but it is harder work on the legs! So does 1 balance out the other keeping fuel economy pretty much the same, or would my 1 tooth less save a bit of fuel?