The pilgrim is a poetic traveler, one who believes that there is poetry on the road, at the heart of everything.

Pilgrimage is a powerful metaphor for any journey with the purpose of finding something that matters deeply to the traveler.

Reading old travel books or novels set in faraway places, spinning globes, unfolding maps, playing world music, eating in ethnic restaurants, meeting friends in cafes . . . all these things are part of never-ending travel practice, not unlike doing scales on a piano, shooting free-throws, or meditating.

There is an unknown room in the soul that is constantly turning the stuff of daydreams into myths for us, helping us to get at meaning we can't get to through the front door.

Who knows why some words ignite the hearts of some readers while others are like wet matches that won't light.

We travel as seekers after answers we cannot find at home, and soon find that a change of climate is easier than a change of heart.

But we don’t need more gimmicks and gadgets; all we need do is reimagine the way we travel. If we truly want to know the secret of soulful travel, we need to believe that there is something sacred waiting to be discovered in virtually every journey.