Seven letter words change one or two letter to make a new word

e.g.

abscond

seconds

condone

Condors

Indoors

doorman

tandoor

adjourn

(BTW, it appears that, at least if reusing words is allowed, every 7-letter word can be reached except zymurgy.)

I won’t ask how long it took you to determine that…

In play: sojourn

(Perhaps if foreign language words are used, even zymurgy can be reached one day. Perhaps.)

Journey

Journal

Jalousy

n/m

Jealous

Jouster

Jupiter

pithier

pitched

ditched

bitched

bitches