Miles to Cross: A Spiritual Journey on the Open Road

by Mike Howerton

Prescriptive books on faith abound, but this generation longs for an authentic narrative that reveals a stepping-stone journey to faith, a raw experience with which they can identify. Mike Howerton captures this with a riveting, yet heartwarming account of his own spiritual and physical journey across half the globe. This book follows him as a college student through Europe by train, America by motorcycle, Britain by hitchhiking, and Central America by any means possible. Spiritually, the journey begins with a question mark but ends with an exclamation point.  

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2004

Reviews

[Jessie Jr]

This is what I will suggest to anyone who is in a pilgrimage should read.

Not the typical insightful read that will tell readers what is, but rather let the readers think after having read what the author shared. This is also an unexpected journey for me, I never even knew where I started (or where exactly I picked this book), and the best thing I liked with this book is that it reminds me how the journey matters over our destination.

[Jason]

Reading this book was itself a journey. At first, it was interesting reading his thoughts and travels. Then I began to wonder what the point was, because a large majority of the book is just describing his travels, without any real discussion of his thoughts or beliefs. Finally, at the end, it gets added on, but the major statement of his spiritual journey (ya know, the main premise of the entire book) is stated most clearly in the epilogue and final note. Overall, a good, worthwhile read, but don’t expect much besides an interesting travel journal for most of the book.

[Ifeanyi Ogbo]

my favorite read this year thus far. Bursting with optimism and spiritual nuggets.

[Stephanie]

I think this book was trying to be like Blue Like Jaz or another book based on travel adn spirituality. It was interesting learning about Mike's life, as he is the pastor of the church I go to, but I didn't really get what I wanted from the book.