About the Book and Author

About the Author: 
Lori Erickson is one of the country’s top travel writers specializing in spiritual journeys. She has published more than a thousand articles in national and regional publications, including National Geographic Traveler, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, and House Beautiful. Visit: http://lorierickson.net

About the Book: 
“In this vivacious memoir, travel writer Erickson (Iowa: Off the Beaten Path) charts her meandering spiritual journey via a dozen pilgrimages she’s taken… Whether describing mystical visions or the rhythms of everyday life, Erickson turns the spiritual journey into a series of exciting transformations.”­—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From a 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 Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God (Fortress Press | September 2017) she weaves her personal narrative with descriptions of pilgrimages ranging from Jerusalem and Machu Picchu to sacred places in the U.S.

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.

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, 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 that provide direction for her inner explorations.

Both irreverent and devout, Holy Rover includes images of holy sites around the world taken by several of the nation’s leading travel photographers.