Between Taking Photos and Experiencing the Surrounding

I am constantly in conflict with myself whenever going for a tour in a place. The problem is that when you know the high chance that you will never be here again, you will try taking as many photos as you possibly can, an attempt to capture all scenery that the eyes saw. Then again, you know that since photos can never quite reflect the what you see, the colors and lighting at the point in time, the temperature and humidity that your skin felt, the air that you smell and the sounds that you've heard. This combination is a unique experience for the body and you want to concentrate on this as much as possible so that the brains can remember this.

Thus, I am in a constant fix. At one point, I just want to not move and experience everything around me, yet at another point, I cannot help but think that I should take photos for fear that one day the memories shall fail and fogged of what I remembered during the trip. So what I am here at this point in time? If I would not be able to remember, the coolness of the air, the sounds of the water, the smell of the air, what is it that I have from this trip? What is it that made up that I've been here, done that, if I should not be able to remember all of it that happened?

Thus, photo-taking seems quite unavoidable at certain point of time. Then I would spend time fumbling over the bulky camera, constantly finding good spots for photo-taking, waiting for the right time to click that shutter etc. In the process that so much so, I would forgot to relax and enjoy what is surrounding me, which is really the essential part of going for a tour and 'being here'.

So what happens if I don't take photos and devote myself to see, hear and feel the place? After going back, I know that memories will not be as vivid as time passes. Fog will slowly accumulate and fade off the colors of my memories as time slowly passes by. Then when I want to remember the events that happened, I have nothing to recollect, nothing to even prove as evidence that I've been there (suddenly I realized what those crappy souvenirs are for), no photos to remind myself of the experience there. I will then regret that I should have taken the photos then, but will probably never have the chance to do that again.

Contradicting moi.