Embarking on a pilgrimage is more than just a journey - it’s a soulful adventure that stirs the heart and awakens the spirit. When I first set out on my pilgrimage travel options, I was searching for something beyond the usual tourist trails. I wanted to connect deeply with culture, history, and fellow travelers who shared a thirst for meaning and discovery. What I found was a tapestry of experiences that enriched my life in ways I never imagined.

Travel doesn’t always change us through grand adventures. Sometimes it changes us in complete silence, with nothing more than a handful of rice and a heart willing to receive.

Before traveling to Bolivia, I thought I knew what I was looking forward to. Like many travelers, I had a list. The Uyuni Salt Flats. The Witches’ Market. The colorful lagoons. The flamingos. The endless mirror landscapes I had admired in photographs for years.

Some journeys test more than our legs. They test our trust. During our Kumano Kodo pilgrimage in Japan, our group of ten set out on the first day’s hike from Takijiri-oji to the small mountain village of Takahara.

There are some memories from travel that stay with me because they were beautiful. Others stay because they were unfinished.

As one of eight children, each of us probably carries a different memory of him. Perhaps each of us carries a different version of him as well. We called him A Ba.

High in the mountains of Nepal, we woke before dawn to make our way toward Poon Hill for sunrise.

A friend said something to me recently that made me smile. “You are a walking rainbow.” I laughed when I heard it. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he might be right.

The morning air outside Potala Palace was cold and dry. Prayer flags moved gently in the wind while pilgrims circled the palace grounds in quiet devotion.

People often ask me which country has been my favorite. It’s a question I never quite know how to answer. Every country carries its own atmosphere, its own rhythm, and its own way of revealing beauty. How do you compare the silence of the Himalayas to the warmth of Italy, or the elegance of Japan to the vastness of Mongolia?

As I was clearing out old papers in my office, I came across something I almost didn’t keep. A simple card. It was from a trip to New Zealand many years ago. At the end of that journey, the group handed it to me — a card filled with handwritten notes from each traveler.

Some journeys don’t end when we leave. They quietly continue walking beside us. In the autumn of 2024, I walked the first 28 temples of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Japan.

MAR 19, 2026 – APR 6, 2026

Today I received a letter from Paul, one of the “original five” travelers who joined me many years ago and who has since become a very Out of all the countries in the world, somehow I find myself in one very specific place, at one very specific moment in time. Sometimes it happens while walking a pilgrimage path like the Camino, the Shikoku. Sometimes it happens during something very simple — sharing a meal, walking to dinner with someone, or pausing in a small street some

One feeling that often arises when I travel is a quiet sense of awe. Out of all the countries in the world, somehow I find myself in one very specific place, at one very specific moment in time. Sometimes it happens while walking a pilgrimage path like the Camino, the Shikoku. Sometimes it happens during something very simple — sharing a meal, walking to dinner with someone, or pausing in a small street somewhere far from home.

Years ago, I once saw a postcard of a beautiful temple in Japan — the elegant vermilion pagoda of Seiganto-Ji standing quietly before the mountains, with the soft white ribbon of Nachi Falls flowing gently in the background.

Over the years, we’ve traveled across continents together, walking ancient paths, exploring historic cities, sharing beautiful meals, and watching unforgettable sunrises and sunsets.

The Seed That Became a Journey began long before I understood what it truly meant. When I first started the International Travel Lovers meetup, I wrote that my dream was to travel the world and visit all the sacred sites. At the time, I didn’t really know what “sacred sites” meant to me, but there must have been a seed already planted, quietly waiting to grow.

JAN 30, 2026 – FEB 12, 2026

NOV 22, 2025 – NOV 30, 2025