Up until 2013, most of my spiritual experiences requiring travel involved going on retreats and visiting churches that are not my own parish. Since 2013, I’ve gone on a good mixture of pilgrimages. From the March for Life in Washington, DC, the World Youth Days in Rio and Krakow, and the many scattered locations throughout the world that I visited on my own, I’ve experienced different ways to go on pilgrimages.
If I could categorize pilgrimages into two general ways, they would be either guided or do-it-yourself.
Let’s take a look at both, including some pros and cons.
Guided
These types of pilgrimages are more like tours. The way you go on guided pilgrimages is to purchase a package or tour. Logistically, most everything is already planned out. For me, my World Youth Day pilgrimages were guided. For Rio de Janeiro and Krakow, our leader went through a pilgrim office in order to book flights, lodgings, tour guides, and have a set, action-packed itinerary.
Pros
- Logistically simpler since travel and lodging is taken care of
- Quicker entrance to major sites (ie. standing in line less)
- Travel with a group (usually)
Cons
- Itinerary often doesn’t allow much deviation and flexibility due to set schedules
- Large groups have a lot of “hurry up and wait”
- Likely not everyone in the group share your same level of spirituality
Do-It-Yourself
Do-it-yourself pilgrimages are more self-designed and guided. In other words, you’ll personally be the one who takes care of figuring out the logistics of travel. In 2017, a few weeks before Golden Week (Japanese holiday week), I spent some time researching my different transportation and lodging options as well as the different Catholic sites for my pilgrimage to Nagasaki that I did during Golden Week.
Pros
- Way more flexibility in schedule
- Potential for saving cost is greater
- Can be as short as long as desired
Cons
- Potential to miss out on learning everything or seeing everything
- Pilgrimage is limited to your own skills vs. leaning on experts
- Requires a lot of personal initiative for… everything
Bottom Line
I am not partial to either type of pilgrimages. Both are great ways to encounter God and to experience the universal Church when done with the right interior disposition. In the interest of trying to be a pilgrim for less, I think leaning towards DIY pilgrimages is a good way to reduce time and cost. Ultimately, whether guided or DIY, the Holy Spirit takes control if you let Him. That’s what matters.
What ways to go on pilgrimages do you like doing: guided or DIY? Mixture of both, maybe? Let me know in the comments!
JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.