LRC vs LRD: Which one is better for importing Edit History and Collections made on the road?

My objectives are to allow the existing links of these Collections (or Albums) shared from the travel laptop to remain active, and also ensuring that future edits to the source files on the home catalog will be reflected in the existing Collections (or Albums) already linked to Cloud. But I am not sure if LrC or LrD are designed to work this way. Maybe there is even a superior (but more complicated) way to acheive what I am trying to do? 

PS. Could the new "local" function of LrD help in any way to achieve the above?

By @TopAdobeFan

After everyone's feedback yesterday and further testing, it seems the above is possible with LrD on the road + LrC after returning home.

Here are the steps I have performed:

1. Use "Local" function on LrD Laptop
2. Edit, share and create albums as needed when on the road
3. Upon return, import LrD travel folders
4. LrC will skip the import of photos already shared in Albums of LrD, as these photos are already in LrC Collections.
5. Go to the downloaded "Collections" in LrC at home, drag and drop photos from these "Collections" orginated from the Cloud into corresponding folders in LrC.
6. Watch these "Cloud Origin" photos in Collections become "LrC Origin".
7. Edit these photos (originating from LrD Cloud Albums) anywhere in LrC (folders or Collections) and see the changes propogated across all LrD and LrM devices.
8. Retain all share settings and recipients of various LrD albums created on the road.

The above has worked for various folders and albums so far without any observed ill effects, but it might break if Adobe makes changes.

Why hasn't Adobe come up with something more automated so far? Or do LrC users in general don't care about sharing?

LRD doesn't have edit history, but is it hidden in xmp files that can be seen by LRC later?

By @TopAdobeFan

First, even for Lightroom Classic, edit history is not stored in XMP metadata. It is stored in the Lightroom Classic catalog database. Which desktop cloud Lightroom does not read. So, edit history has never been stored in XMP, which means it was never going to be an option for this, even with the new Local option in cloud desktop Lightroom.

Cloud desktop Lightroom has Versions, simliar to Snapshots in Lightroom Classic. The closest thing cloud Lightroom has to History is the Auto Version, but it does not show every single editing step like Lightroom Classic History does, just the state at the end of each session. And, cloud Versions are stored in the cloud database, and cannot be transferred to any catalog. So there is no possibility of transferring that info.

The only way to preserve a full step-by-step edit History panel across computers is to run Lightroom Classic on both, and merge catalogs using File > Import From Another Catalog.

If I create Collections with the travel LRC cataglog on the laptop, when it comes time to export my new travel photos, will the Collections be exported together with the new photos?

By @TopAdobeFan

Yes, if you open your primary catalog, choose File > Import From Another Catalog, and then import the travel catalog from the travel computer. Import From Another Catalog imports everything — history, collection membership, and many other things you will never find stored in an XMP file because that data is stored at the catalog level, not the file level.

Cloud desktop Lightroom only has a partial solution here. In cloud Lightroom you can create Albums, which are the same as the Collections in Lightroom Classic, and any Albums you create will sync down to the Classic catalog that is synced to the cloud. But…cloud Lightroom also lets you create Folders to organize Albums, and those Folders are not converted to Collection Sets in Classic, and are not the same thing as to the file-system-based Folders in Lightroom Classic.

Is it easier to retain the Collections made on the road with LRC or with LRD?

By @TopAdobeFan

In a Lightroom travel catalog, if you create collections, collection sets, Smart Collections, and other collection-based projects in Lightroom Classic such as slide shows and print layouts, when you get home if you use File > Import From Another Catalog to merge the travel catalog with your primary catalog, all of that gets transferred to your primary catalog.

In cloud Lightroom, as mentioned in the previous answer, only Albums sync back to Lightroom Classic, as Collections. Other cloud Lightroom organizational tools do not sync back, such as Folders.

So, the more you use the full power of collections in Lightroom Classic, the less cloud Lightroom is useful here, and the more you want to travel with Lightroom Classic.

My answers are from my experience. Others may have different advice. And it gets complicated if you are talking about the new 'Local' feature in LrD. Ignore 'Local' for now.

Issues arise when it comes to travel photos:

• First, I need to do light editing on various devices (eg. laptop, iphone, ipad) when on the road
  So you will need Lr- mobile (LrM) on the iPhone & iPad, LrD on a laptop.
• I also need to add photos to differenct Collections (some for sharing or some for curating purposes)
  In LrD and LrM Collections are called 'Albums' that can be shared. LrC at home will reproduce these Albums as Collections.
• after coming home, I need to import all these new photos along with edit history and collections back into LRC catalog at home
  If you have used LrD (in Cloud mode) or LrM while travelling, then the photos have allready been 'Added/Imported'  and synced to the Lightroom Cloud. There is no further "Importing" involved in the LrC home catalog, it has already been done!

... is it better to use LRC or LRD when on the road? ... but here are some issues that I can't figure out:

LRD doesn't have edit history, but is it hidden in xmp files that can be seen by LRC later?
Full editing History recorded? No. only the current state of editing an image will be visible. Only edits made in LrC will preserve any 'History' in a LrC catalog.

If I create Collections with the travel LRC cataglog on the laptop, when it comes time to export my new travel photos, will the Collections be exported together with the new photos? 
Depends what you mean by "exporting".  There is no need to "export" anything. Two scenarios-a) If travel editing was done in LrD or LrM then both photos and edits will automatically download to the LrC 'home' catalog when sync is turned on in the LrC catalog. SYNC SETUP IN CLASSIC 
b) If travel editing was done in a LrC catalog (Only possible on a laptop) then this would require you to use the catalog merge facility to [Import from another catalog] when you are at home. A process that merges the LrC catalogs and copies the image files into the home computer and catalog. TRAVEL CATALOG 

Is it easier to retain the Collections made on the road with LRC or with LRD?
IMO- LrC.  In LrC you can use Standard Collections, Collection Sets, and Smart Collections. Simpler in LrD- you only have a single list of Albums.

COMPARE LIGHTROOM & LIGHTROOM-CLASSIC FEATURES

This following article link is titled "Lightroom" but it is referring to Lightroom-CLASSIC LrC-

https://www.phototraces.com/lightroom-tutorials/merge-lightroom-catalogs/

1. LRD doesn't have edit history, but is it hidden in xmp files that can be seen by LRC later?

No, it's not hidden anywhere - it doesn't exist.

1.  
2. If I create Collections with the travel LRC cataglog on the laptop, when it comes time to export my new travel photos, will the Collections be exported together with the new photos? 
3. Is it easier to retain the Collections made on the road with LRC or with LRD?

Yes, if you use File > Import from Another Catalog on the desktop, after doing a File > Export as Catalog on the laptop. Try it - it's quite obvious, and this LrC-only workflow retains everything that you do in LrC.

If you wish to use LrD on the road, Collections will simply sync into your LrC catalog. So that can be less work. But then you're really going to need to use LrD, you'd not have any editing history and smart collections, and you'd have to see if you can get your head around using one app on the laptop, a different one on the desktop.