INSPIRATION
AUTHOR’S CHALLENGE: BROADEN DEFINITION OF PILGRIMAGE
Faith travel is growing even as participation in
mainstream religion declines. People of all faiths and all
levels of spirituality are interested in the special experiences
of religious travel, and they are willing to spend their money
on travel rather than on accumulating more material things.
The need for religious travel experiences is a yearning that
doesn’t go away.
Travel professionals make it possible for faith
travelers to have incredible experiences they can’t
have on their own. Good tour operators and guides make
all the difference in creating unforgettable travel memories,
especially in places rich in history, symbolism and religious
meaning. Making the travel experience easy is especially
important to inexperienced travelers and to people traveling
abroad to countries that speak other languages.
We need to broaden our defi nition of pilgrimage.
Although a pilgrimage traditionally is thought of as a long
journey to a famous religious location such as the Holy
Land or Mecca, a pilgrimage can be to any sacred place,
no matter how simple, non-traditional or close to home. In
“Holy Rover,” Erickson’s own visit to Henry David Thoreau’s
grave at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts,
proved to be a pilgrimage, as was a visit to the Abbey of
Gethsemani, home of the Trappist Monks, in Bardstown,
Kentucky. As she described it, the most important part of a
pilgrimage often is “…not the destination but what happens
along the way. Pilgrimages are meant to trigger a change of
heart, and that can happen anywhere.”
Buddhist temple Borobudur, Central Jawa, Indonesia
faithtravelassociation.com
7
Members of the Faith Travel Association
gathered in San Antonio, Texas, last
December for the annual FTA Breakfast
and keynote from faith travel author Lori
Erickson. Published in many national
publications and author of “Holy Rover:
Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles
Lori Erickson
and God,” Erickson also manages her
Spiritual Travels website, which features hundreds of holy
places in many faith traditions.
While she writes about a variety of subjects, many of her
workshops and presentations focus on the intersection of
spirituality and travel. Erickson shared her thoughts and
advice based on her many years of experience with the
travel professionals in attendance.