You're right, they're like little pilgrimages. you never know quite how the journey's going to turn out, what you'll find when you get there, or if you'll get there at all.
I was having similar thoughts yesterday as I crossed the car park in the sun (not as romantic as on the moors), thinking about how although this site is just a 'virtual' thing, it links people with shared ideas together in their own visits to very real places. Much more real than bloody cities. 'snice.