Follow along as I visit the spiritual sights of the world, soaking up devotion and prayers in places of worship, embarking on pilgrimages, and looking inwards as I take in the Mother Earth’s religious, cultural, and natural wonders.
The Kumano Kodo is a network of pilgrimage trails that connect various Shinto-Buddhist sites in the mountainous Kii Peninsula south of Osaka and Nagoya, and is considered one of the world’s great pilgrimages that travelers can easily join. These expansive tracts of wilderness are replete with spiritual sights that have attracted pilgrims for 1000+ years, …
In 2018 I visited Wakayam, a remote and wild region of Japan south of Osaka and Nagoya, to walk parts of the Kumano Kodo, a network of ancient pilgrimage trails. These trails are easily accessible, making them one of the best pilgrimages in the world for travelers. Besides these amazing hot springs at the eastern …
Read moreKumano Sanzan and Ise Grand Shrine: 4 Gorgeous Temples on the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage
Almost exactly 10 years ago as I write this, I left my home in Canada to go traveling and teach English in China. I had traveled extensively before that, but this was the first time I was leaving on a one-way ticket. It was a path that eventually led me to Taiwan, where I still …
Read moreA Night on the Peak of Tai Shan, China’s Holiest Mountain
On my recent 10-day winter trip to Japan, my plan was to not step foot in a single city, hike parts of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, one of the world’s best pilgrimages that travelers can easily embark on, and only stay in traditional minshuku, ryokan, and temples. For the latter, doing a temple stay in …
Read moreEko In Koyasan: An Unforgettable Temple Stay in Koyasan in Winter
This is not one of my typical “how to” travel guides, on the subject of hiking in New Zealand. Rather, it’s a personal story of transformation going back almost two decades, to a zen moment I had alone in the mountains of New Zealand, when I realized my life calling. If you are nature lover …
After I wrote an article introducing tea in Taiwan in 2016, I was contacted by representatives from several Taiwanese tea-related companies and organizations. One of these was Sam, one of three permanent residents at Global Tea Hut (國際茶亭)’s headquarters, “Tea Sage Hut (通聖亭),” in Miaoli (苗栗), a smallish county capital in Central-Western Taiwan. At first …
Read moreVisiting Global Tea Hut: Zen and the Art of Cha Dao
A guest post by Rohit Agarwal of Trans India Travels. You may worship a certain god or follow a certain religion, but when it comes to spirituality, no religion is different. Spiritualism comes from your soul, and the philosophies of every religion, no matter how different, will all help you reach out to your soul. …
Read more7 Pilgrimage Sites in India that Every Spiritual Seeker Must Visit
