Meaningful Journeys

In this episode, I talk with Erin Dooley, who is a pilgrim, filmmaker, and producer. Erin documented her experiences along the Camino de Santiago in a film entitled A Way to Forgiveness. In her newest initiative called Walks to Forgive, Erin accompanies people on walks in nature as she documents their stories of forgiveness. We talk about what inspired Erin to first go on a pilgrimage and how she has evolved into a forgiveness companion to others.

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Daniel Olsen, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University. Dr. Olsen is the co-editor (along with Dr. Maximiliano Korstanje) of Dark Tourism and Pilgrimage.  Dr. Olsen and I talk about the book as well as his personal connections to pilgrimage. 

In this episode, I offer thoughts on pilgrimage studies during the COVID-19 pandemic from a psychological lens. This brief talk was given at a virtual symposium at the William and Mary on January 21, 2021. The talk was part of a panel discussion on how pilgrimage studies has been impacted during the pandemic and how our work may look moving forward. I was joined in the panel part of the presentation by Daniel Olsen (Geography) and Michael Di Giovine (Anthropology). 

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Michael Di Giovine and Dr. Jaeyeon Choe. They have recently published an edited book entitled Pilgrimage Beyond the Officially Sacred: Understanding the Geographies of Religion and Spirituality in Sacred Travel. In this podcast episode, we discuss their book as well as their perspectives on what is sacred, what is pilgrimage, and new directions in the field of pilgrimage studies and sacred travel. Dr. Di Giovine is Associate Professor of Anthropology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania in the USA and Dr. Choe is a senior academic at Bournemouth University in England. 

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Sachin Jain about pilgrimage in India and, in particular, the Ramdevra Pilgrimage in his ancestral home state of Rajasthan. Dr. Jain reflected on his experiences as a volunteer during this pilgrimage and about why pilgrimage is so important in India. We also talked about the links between mental health and pilgrimage.  

In this episode, I talk with Ali about his journey to Mecca. Ali's mother had been waiting for years to be selected for the Hajj pilgrimage and then she passed away. Her name was chosen and Ali's family decided that he should complete the pilgrimage in her place. An existential dilemma emerged: Ali was raised in a religious Muslim household yet he no longer practiced Islam. Listen to hear how Ali navigated his love and devotion for his mother and his internal conflict about the religion of his youth. 

In this episode, I talk with Lilly Grisafi who walked the Camino Frances through France and Spain in 2019. Her pilgrimage marked a transition into adulthood and a new way of seeing the world. During her journey, she learned how to truly listen to others, how to set boundaries with other people, and met a man whose life story inspired her to view her own father in a new way.  

What is a Coddiewomple? In this episode, you’ll find out as well as hear about a two-week pilgrimage through the English countryside. With no clear directional markers, Dr. Bruce McDonald channeled his inner Chaucer and walked to Canterbury. Along the way, he met intriguing locals, got lost, and drank a lot of beer.

In this episode, I talk with Rana Bokhari about her 2019 Arba'een pilgrimage journey in Iraq. She shares about how the pilgrimage led to significant spiritual growth and opened her eyes to the beauty of all of humanity. She also discusses the universal lessons of peace, justice, and equality that we can learn from this pilgrimage and how the pilgrimage can be a meaningful experience for anyone. 

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Anne Blankenship, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at North Dakota State University, about pilgrimages to Japanese American Incarceration Camps. Dr. Blankenship provides background information about the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during WWII and the pilgrimages that emerged following the War. These pilgrimages occur at various camps throughout the United States.