Key 'holding' during Travel

Soon after I had managed to ‘stand on my own legs’ I got myself enmeshed into a desire to travel. Somehow I felt that to make the most use of my waking time, I have to visit as many places as possible, visit places of worship in particular, and the places which had been very significant in the lives of people who lived centuries ago. The idea was to gather the essence of experiences of people who live now and those who lived previously, thereby deepening my own experience of life. I never had an occasion to share my ‘key’ learnings from the travel experiences. This question made me look at that aspect of my travels. There is nothing much to share about it, and travel-preferences or priorities are individualistic. So no prescriptions are ‘tailor-made’. Yet I thought, it would amuse you to know how I looked at it.
Regards,
Psn(8th Dec., 209)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091202134209AAaoVWt&cp=2
What are some of your key learnings from your travel experiences?
It's going to be vacation time soon and most of us will be planning trips to different parts of the world. What have you learned from your previous travel experiences? Is it to remember to check all your documents and tickets? Is it to remember not to pack sharp objects? What do you ensure you do before you leave home and start the fun times?

My answer:
The planning part is very good to make a travel comfortable. But implementation of the plans should be selective, so as to make our alertness and awareness more 'available' to experience the place of visit. Most people just 'see' the places, and mention having visited them, and carry visual images in memory, or store captured images in celluloid or digital form. But they grossly miss the experience of the place! The experience of the place is the essence of travel. We should feel as if now we 'own that place' for ever, deep within ourselves. For this kind of experience to happen, we need lesser distractions(unnecessary luggage items, clothes, valuables, gadgets, undigested food in stomach, heavy fat content in storage areas of our body, worries in our mind, lack of sleep, disinterested co-travellers, etc). And then, a little bit of spirit of adventure would help us to explore unexpected potentials of the place of visit, and give our selves that unique surprise gift of amazement, to cherish, remember and 're-live' them at will for the rest of our lives. It would be a bonus, if we happen to make a difference in the lives of people living in the place of visit, sharing joy through our intense involvement in their concerns, however brief that may be. It is like leaving our fingerprints at the places of visit for ever, in the sands of time! The conclusive 'test' of our fruitful cumulative travels is that over a period of time, the urge, the need to travel gradually satiates like a hungry stomach feels satisfied after feasting on variety filled meal, and yet keeps feeling the heightened taste right from the pit of stomach in its belches(the best ever feed back that the tongue can have)!