Pervasive in the concept of pilgrimage is the need for fulfillment. Humans all have spiritual needs, and so the nature of pilgrimage reflects the components desired for this fulfillment. The nature of pilgrimage is hybrid of awe and spiritual experience, two powerful psychological factors to appease this deep-rooted need.
The element of awe, the first and strongest component of pilgrimage, is introduced through a number of its own factors. Awe can be generated in the visiting of a (link to destination) foreign country, (link to destination) the fame of a place, or the (link to destination) sheer weight of holiness attributed to a patch of ground or monument. Awe is found in the (link to destination) beauty of nature, or the (link to destination) demonstration of vast natural forces. All these sources of awe can inspire spirituality in a fashion that ordinary ways do not.
The spirituality itself is inherent in pilgrimage, through the very motivation to make one. Without the spiritual element, a pilgrimage would become a vacation; it would become nothing more than an exotic diversion.
Should either of these elements be lacking, no pilgrimage occurs. Pilgrimages are, by nature, inspiring through the two elements of a strong spiritual experience; awe, and the experience itself.
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