Each place I visited has its own particular look, character, and ambiance. If I want your journey photographs to be good and lasting, I should capture all of these qualities together, and say as much about a place as give the literal look of it.
We are unlikely to long remember properly the smell and buzz of a flower garden in spring, the awe of gazing for the first time at the mountain we intend to climb, thesoftness of a tropical breeze, the thrill of a huge roller coaster, the wonder of our first wild bear, or the adrenaline of rafting white water. I need to bring these and other sensations back, to trigger our memories, and to communicate how we felt to others. To do this, I need to think but also feel as much as I look when setting out to make photographs.
First and foremost, think about what made you decide, out of all the places in the world, to choose this particular destination. Whatever it is—the beach, the rides, the mountain, the galleries, the food—obviously appeals to you. If it didn't, you wouldn't be going there. That site or activity is one of the things you want to photograph. But there are probably many other interesting aspects of the place you may not be aware of. That's where research comes in.