Episode Details

What if travel isn’t about where we go — but about who we become along the way?

In this episode of The Story of Us: From Cosmic Dawn to the Depths of Being, Jeff Ellison is joined by Doug Brouwer, Presbyterian pastor, author, and lifelong traveler, for a conversation that feels less like an interview and more like a shared walk on a winding path.

Doug has spent more than four decades in ministry, serving congregations across the United States and Europe, learning new languages later in life, leading pilgrimages, and listening deeply — in sanctuaries, prison cell blocks, foreign streets, and quiet beaches along Lake Michigan. His latest book, The Traveler’s Path: Finding Spiritual Growth and Inspiration Through Travel, explores how movement through the world can awaken humility, empathy, and meaning — when we’re willing to “get off the bus” and truly encounter others.

Together, Jeff and Doug explore:

• Why travel is part of humanity’s origin story, from Abram and Paul to modern migration
• How curiosity, beauty, and attention — learned on childhood road trips — can shape a life
• The difference between tourism and transformation, and what makes a journey “worthy”
• Why learning even a little of another language can deepen empathy and humility
• How meeting one person can change how we see an entire culture or conflict
• Doug’s experience walking the Camino de Santiago, and what pilgrimage teaches that comfort cannot
• The role of storytelling in healing division and restoring our sense of interconnectedness
• What prison ministry taught Doug about listening, humanity, and presence
• How Thomas Merton, Joseph Campbell, and Annie Dillard illuminate the inner and outer journey
• Letting go of perfectionism, anxiety, and old betrayals — and aiming instead for peace
• Why Doug believes the final chapter of life may be our last worthy adventure

Along the way, Jeff shares his own love of “worthy adventure” — traveling lightly, seeking connection over checklists, and returning home each time a little clearer about his place in the world.

This episode is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and remember that the sacred is not confined to holy places — it often waits for us along the road.

Whether you travel far or stay close to home, this conversation will leave you asking better questions about curiosity, compassion, and the shared human journey.

📘 About the Guest

Doug Brouwer is a Presbyterian pastor and author of The Traveler’s Path: Finding Spiritual Growth and Inspiration Through Travel. His writing explores faith, pilgrimage, curiosity, and what it means to live with openness in a complex world.