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.

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.

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.

MAR 18, 2027 – APR 5, 2027