Holy Rover

<p>From her childhood on an Iowa farm Lori Erickson grew up to travel the world as a writer specializing in holy sites-journeys that led her on an ever-deepening spiritual quest. In <i>Holy Rover</i> she weaves her personal narrative with descriptions of a dozen pilgrimages.</p><p>Her trips give Erickson the chance to reflect on her Lutheran upbringing her flirtation with Wicca and her admiration for Tibetan Buddhism. A trip to the healing shrine of Lourdes is intertwined with the story of her son's serious illness as a baby while visiting Thoreau's Walden Pond blends with ruminations on being a writer.</p><p>Along the way Erickson encounters spiritual leaders who include the chief priest of the Icelandic pagan religion of Asatru a Trappist monk at Thomas Merton's Gethsemani Abbey and a Lakota retreat director at South Dakota's Bear Butte.</p><p>Both irreverent and devout <i>Holy Rover</i> includes images of holy sites around the world taken by several of the nation's leading travel photographers.</p><p>Travel writer Episcopal deacon and author of the <i>Holy Rover</i> blog at Patheos Erickson is an engaging guide for pilgrims eager to take a spiritual journey. Her book describes travels that changed her life-and can change yours too.</p>