"Every person has two journeys to make through life," Dean William R. Inge has written. "There is the outer journey with its various incidents and the milestones. . . . There is also an inner journey, a spiritual Odyssey, with a secret history of its own." In this enthralling collection of writings, both types of journey are given serious attention. Travel is often linked to transformation since the experience brings us into a close encounter with our deepest fears and yearnings. On the road, we are awed by the other. We are constantly off balance and open to the call of instinct and adventure. Travel is also an erotic experience, engaging all our senses and, most of all, the spiritual sense of wonder.

The 40 essays here include selections by Laurens van der Post, Natalie Goldberg, Peter Maass, Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Mark Salzman, and many others. The spiritual odysseys of Huston Smith, Andrew Harvey, Paul William Roberts, and Rabbi David A. Cooper are especially poignant. Alan Watts once asked Joseph Campbell: "What kind of yoga do you do?" The reply: "I underline passages." If you engage in this spiritual practice as I do, I guarantee that your copy of this incredible book will be well marked.