Holy Rover

Holy Rover is about the transformative power of travel. If you've ever been curious about the ancient spiritual practice of pilgrimage, come along with Lori Erickson as she explores a dozen holy sites around the world.

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Lori Erickson always wanted to be a travel writer, so she started pitching stories to editors. And she started writing. What she found as she traveled and wrote was that sacred places exerted a special pull on her. And she noticed that her own faith was changing as a result.Holy Rover is a record of Erickson's pilgrimages-some as close as a state or two away from her native Iowa, others across the world. Erickson reflects on her Lutheran upbringing, her flirtation with Wicca, and her admiration of Tibetan Buddhism. She writes compellingly about the healing shrine of Lourdes alongside her son's serious illness as a baby.Along the way, Erickson describes her encounters with spiritual leaders who include the Chief Priest of Asatru, a Trappist monk at Thomas Merton's Gethsemani Abbey, a Lakota man who directs a retreat lodge at the holy site of Bear Butte in South Dakota, and a nun at the Abbey of St. Hildegard in Germany. Each gives her valuable insights into her own spiritual journey, and she is ultimately drawn back to faith.