Hey, where else can you climb a volcano one day, photo stalk mountain gorillas the next, and dance with stoned pygmies soon after?
After Africa, I followed my passion for long-distance trekking down some of the world’s most renowned pilgrimage trails, including Spain’s Camino de Santiago, the Via Francigena from England to Rome, and St. Olav’s Way across Norway. Each year brought another path, another challenge. Each time, I relished slowing life down, reducing it to its bare essentials. Trekking became my Walden Pond. Long-distance hiking is a trampoline for the mind, as you process a lifetime of thoughts, emotions, memories, and sensations. Your senses become heightened. I delight in the minutiae of smells and sounds: the scent of an approaching cloudburst or hearing the scamper of a lizard in the brush. I've also found an inner peace through these treks. I've lightened up my pack — and metaphorically my life. It's something that remains with you, a sanctuary when life becomes too crazy once again.
The seeds for my new book grew from those experiences. Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace chronicles my recent 2620-mile trek with a 68-year-old Frenchman from France to Jerusalem. Following in the footsteps of First Crusades and legendary first Knights Templar, we set off to trek across eleven countries and two continents.
Unlike my other books, from the very start, I was determined to make the trek not only as a personal pilgrimage, but also as a walk for peace. I wanted to remind folks along the way about the necessity of solving our problems in a more enlightened manner than resorting to war.
As journeys go, it was far from easy. Following a thousand-year-old map, each day we were uncertain where we would eat or sleep. Temperatures ranged from freezing to nearly 100 degrees (F). There was also an ever-changing landscape and languages, but politics turned out to be the greatest unknown. By the time we arrived in Serbia, Israel had bombed Beirut Airport, southern Lebanon was being evacuated, there was a bombing attempt on the US Embassy in Damascus, and Western travelers were gunned down in Amman, Jordan. Oh, and an Ebola-like virus raged in central Turkey.
Still, without exception, in every country the people we met were curious and kind when they discovered the reason for our journey. Our message found great acceptance. Folks are so tired of endless war and some were moved to tears when they heard of our quest.
True to my initial objectives, I wanted Along the Templar Trail to not only chronicle this historic journey, but also provide a blueprint for others who'd like to walk this path of peace. So this book is my most personal and surprisingly philosophical. It interweaves observations, koans and brief encounters that are metaphorical in nature. Some readers will hear a resonance in these—others will see only the adventure.
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