Tolkien may have been the greatest of the writers about journeys:

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins and 13 Dwarves venture forward “on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.

Lord of the Rings – “The Quest of the Ring, also known as the Quest for Mount Doom, was the quest taken by the members of the Fellowship of the Ring to destroy the One Ring of Sauron to rid the evil from Middle-earth during the Third Age. It forms the center of the story of The Lord of the Rings.” Tolkien Gateway

 

Other writers have written about journeys, too.

“Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!’ ‘Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of the old life and into the new! Then some day, some day long hence, jog home here if you will, when the cup has been drained and the play has been played, and sit down by your quiet river with a store of goodly memories for company.”
― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

We see it over and over again, one protagonist or another sets out for an epic journey:

The Three Wisemen made a journey.

In my picture book, The Donkey’s Song, the Donkey also goes on a journey, along with Mary and Joseph.

“This luminous, soothing song of hope, friendship, conviction, and faith is one that families will return to each Christmas for years to come.” Random House Children’s Books

amazon.com/author/jackikellum

The song 500 Miles is a song about a journey.

The song Midnight Train to Georgia is a song about a Journey:

There are many journeys in literature, and in some cases, the journey would qualify as an epic hero’s journey.

The Hero’s Journey involves an element of danger and conflict along the way.

1. We first see the hero in his ordinary life.
2. The ordinary life is ended with a call to adventure.
3. The hero will meet with at least one mentor.
4. The hero will encounter tests and challenges.
5. The hero will gain new insights and show growth.
6. Things will get dark before they get good.
7. The hero will face an ordeal that brings him to his lowest
8. The hero overcomes the ordeal, and he is rewarded.
9. The hero will meet the ultimate test.
10. The hero will be returned home, but the journey will have changed him.

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her friends make a traditional hero’s journey, as they set off to see the Wizard.

 

 

In Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim journey along the Mississippi River.

“At dawn, Mae Tuck set out on her horse for the wood at the edge of the village of Treegap.”–Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

On August 1, I’ll begin looking closely at Tuck Everlasting. Babbitt uses several images and themes in this masterpiece of writing. Every writer should study Tuck Everlasting.