Pilgrims passing through the river Dez

Such trips are pilgrimages because they touch the heart and soul. There’s nothing wrong with an ordinary vacation, for sometimes what we most need to do is chill out on a beach with a mystery novel and a gin and tonic. But there are other times—which tend to come after losses and at transition points like graduations, decade birthdays, and retirements—when the road calls to us in a different way. Even if we think we’re not religious, even if we’re skeptical of any kind of spirituality, there seems to be something in our DNA that draws us to wayfaring. I suspect it’s part of what first drew our ancestors out of the trees on the savannas of Africa and eventually to every corner of the earth.