Travel

Paul’s travels throughout the world, including to sacred sites and on pilgrimage.

Some Ignatian holy sites in Barcelona

While Loyola, Pamplona, Montserrat and Manresa are the most well known Spanish places in the formation of Ignatius of Loyola,…
Midnight at the Oasis in Morocco – A Photo Essay

A first shared journey overseas, from Casablanca to Marrakech: a Morocco photo essay of desert light, ancient places and intricate…
Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech

This reflective visit to Marrakech’s Majorelle Gardens lingers on Majorelle blue, sculptural cacti, and the dialogue between science and art.…
Albi France – Where another little art history story began

A short commute from Toulouse is Albi, the home of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, one of art history’s biggest little people.…
Chasing Paolo Veronese

When Paolo Veronese – ascended master in training – one of the most esteemed painters of the Renaissance put a…
What Travel Teaches Us to Notice

I asked AI to read 138 of my travel posts and describe what it found. Here is its attempt to…
The beauty of Assisi – A photo essay

Assisi’s beauty unfolds in stone streets, olive groves, and the quiet presence of Francis and Clare. This reflective photo-essay traces…
Francis of Assisi – The radical follower of Jesus

This meditation on St Francis of Assisi traces his final days—marked by stigmata, near-blindness, and profound inner consolation—to his serene…
Francis of Assisi and the wolf of Gubbio

Reflecting on the beloved legend of Saint Francis and the wolf of Gubbio, this piece weaves together art, history and…
Some of my favourite Islamic sites – A photo essay

A photo essay of visits to some of my favourite Islamic sites in Palestine, Iran, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan,…
The exquisite beauty of Iran – A photo essay

From intricate tiles to expansive gardens, Iran’s beauty defies easy description. In this post I offer a glimpse of landscapes,…
My favourite food in Assisi – A photo essay

There is the peace that surpasses understanding and then there is the peace of carbohydrates. Italian food is unsurpassed and…
Going underground in Torino

I almost never go out for dinner — but in Turin, a vegan fine dining restaurant called Cucina Underground stopped…
You will never guess my favourite museum

From childhood atlas dreams of Winnipeg to standing inside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, this post traces how one…
What is a “sacred travel” consult?

Paul McCarthy offers guidance to advanced souls considering using sacred travel to advance their soul’s growth. This post discusses how…
35,000 words… not

A picture is worth a thousand words — and these are worth thirty-five thousand. A photo essay from forty years…
How would you describe Australia to a foreigner?

Three Tourism Australia films that brilliantly capture what it feels like to be in Australia — the blue water, the…
The Path That Led to iluminar

Paul McCarthy’s life changed direction when he visited Brasil to acquire a crystal light healing apparatus in 2008. He learned…
Coogee reading list

From the shark murder mystery to the ladies-only ocean pool, Coogee has inspired some remarkable books. Here is my personal…
When pilgrimage is not an option

Pilgrimage is a calling — not a requirement. For those who cannot travel to the world’s holy places, there are…
Bones and holy dust – relics of the saints

Bones, skin and holy dust — the relics of the saints once drew millions of medieval pilgrims across Europe, and…
I touched the Crown of Thorns

In 2012, I venerated the Crown of Thorns in Notre Dame Cathedral — a relic of the Passion of Jesus…
Some inspiring pilgrims

A carefully curated selection of inspiring and uplifting videos about pilgrimage and sacred travel: The extraordinary 14th century story of…
More inspiring pilgrims

Looking for a more intentional, spiritually rich pilgrimage? This post recommends five deeply loved books on sacred travel—from The Art…
My top ten sacred sites

A suggested list of sacred sites from 17 countries to inspire your travels, including Christian and Muslim holy places and…
Reflections on this year’s pilgrimage to Italy

Reflections written from a hotel near Milan airport on the final night of this year’s pilgrimage to Italy — saints…
Annecy, France

A detour from Turin to venerate the relics of St François de Sales and St Jane de Chantal in the…
Turin revisited

Turin may be the most beautiful large city in Italy — grand boulevards, magnificent churches, and the shrines of Don…
Materialisation over a relic in the Basilica of San Antonio

A day of prayer and unexpected grace in Padova — multiple visits to the Basilica of Saint Anthony, and a…
Convent of the Visitation, Treviso

A visit to the Convent of the Visitation in Treviso to venerate a relic of St François de Sales and…
Bologna again

Back in Bologna for a second time — revisiting the shrines of St Catherine of Bologna and St Dominic, a…
Pisa!

Pisa rewards the pilgrim as much as the tourist — four remarkable museums, the church where St Catherine of Siena…
Chasing Caterina around Siena

A full day following St Catherine of Siena through her city — the duomo, the pilgrim hospital, San Domenico, and…
My first time in Siena

First impressions of Siena — medieval brickwork, a guided tour with the remarkable Anna Piperato, a Eucharistic miracle still unexplained…
Gubbio

A peaceful day in Gubbio — said by some to be second only to Assisi for St Francis — visiting…
Foligno – “where it all began”

A brief but meaningful pilgrimage stop in Foligno — the town where St Francis sold his father’s cloth, setting in…
What can we learn about San Francesco from Perugia

Perugia holds an important place in the story of St Francis — he was imprisoned here, and it changed him…
Under the Tuscan fog in Cortona

A day trip from Assisi to Cortona in the Tuscan fog — visiting the Franciscan hermitage at La Celle, relics…
Final veneration of the relics of St Francis of Assisi … and St Carlo Acutis

A third veneration of the relics of St Francis of Assisi using the guided option — more intimate, more intentional…
Second veneration of the relic of St Francis of Assisi

A second visit to the relics of St Francis in Assisi — mass in the upper basilica, the Basilica of…
First time line – Veneration of the relic of St Francis of Assisi

The bones of St Francis of Assisi — hidden for 600 years, exhibited for one day in 1978, and now…
On the pilgrim path in Rome

Two days on the pilgrim path in Rome — Trastevere, San Francesco a Ripa, the Station Churches, St Peter’s, the…
On my way to Rome again

Arriving in Rome for the 2026 Italy pilgrimage — Il Gesù, St Ignatius, a spontaneous confession with a Jesuit, and…
Kyoto — thousands and thousands of blessings

Kyoto — Japan’s cultural heart, with 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines — and the final stop on my…
The island where God lives

The World Heritage island of Itsukushima — known as Miyajima, “the island where God lives” — where the entire island…
The lovely town of Yamaguchi

Following St Francis Xavier to Yamaguchi — the quiet city where he preached in the streets, converted Japan’s first Jesuit,…
There is a gift in Kagoshima

Following St Francis Xavier to Kagoshima — where he made landfall on 15 August 1549, the first European missionary to…
My pilgrimage to Japan begins in Nagasaki

My Japan pilgrimage begins not where Xavier landed, but in Nagasaki – the Rome of the East, home of the…
Leaving on Uzbek Airlines

Departing Uzbekistan from Tashkent — the Usman Quran stained with the blood of the third caliph, the Soviet metro as…
Far from deserted, you can hook up in a yurt if you want to

Crossing the Kyzyl Kum desert on the Royal Road from Samarkand to Bukhara — a holy Islamic site in Nurata,…