I re-read your post. Previously I commented that I mostly use SPD shoes and pedals when touring, but if you are getting ready for your first tour, it is a bad time to change what you have been doing when it comes to pedals and if your shoes are attached to your pedals, how they are attached. There is a learning curve to using cleats, and making sure that releasing your shoe from the pedal is second nature before you come to a stop. When I started using SPD cleats, I made a conscious effort to be detached more than 20 feet from where I planned to stop to make sure that I developed muscle memory that would make that second nature.

It is best to learn how to use SPD cleats, or any other means that you attach your foot to the pedal long before you go on a bike tour. If you leave on a tour in a week or two, use what you have been using, not something radically different.