Every time she plans a trip, Tracy Pawelski considers one thing first: Where can she walk?

Tracy, who has traveled to 40 countries, has conquered some of the longest walks in the world, including El Camino de Santiago - an ancient pilgrimage in Spain, the scenic Dingle Way in Ireland and the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas.

She'll talk about her experiences when the Elizabeth Hughes Society presents "Walking Around the World." The program will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, at St. Paul's Church of Elizabethtown, 398 N. Locust St., Elizabethtown. The meeting is open to the public.

Professionally, Tracy worked in strategic communications and reputation management for a variety of companies and organizations, including Giant Food Stores. In 2015, she decided it was time for something new.

Her daughter, Juliet, had just graduated from college, and she wanted to walk El Camino. "I was looking for my next step, and I asked her if I could come along," Tracy recalled, noting she was delighted when Juliet agreed. "How many 21-year-old girls want to walk 500 miles with their mom?"

That walk was Tracy's first long-distance trek, and she loved it. It took her 35 days to complete the walk.

Highlights of the walk included the Cruz de Ferro or Iron Cross. "It's a humble place where people bring a token from home, and they leave it there," Tracy explained. "It's about leaving behind whatever burdens you're carrying."

From her experience, Tracy wrote her first book in her "One Woman" travel series, "One Woman's Camino."

"The walk was all about metaphors, and that's what the book is about, too," she said. "When we were walking, I carried a pack on my back that weighed about 15 pounds. Juliet carried about 30 pounds. This was a metaphor for what we all need to carry on our journey through life. It's different for each of us. What matters to you is different from what matters to me."

When she reached the end of El Camino, Tracy didn't stop walking for long. "I finished that walk, and I felt like I needed to keep going," she said.

A friend she'd met on the walk was putting together a small trip to Nepal to walk the Annapurna Circuit in the fall of 2015, and Tracy signed up.

Early on in the walk, her host had to turn back due to a health issue, and Tracy faced a choice. "I had a decision to make - which way am I going to go? Up? Or down?" she remembered. She decided to keep walking, reaching a spot farther on the trek before turning back.

She took her experience on the Annapurna Circuit and wrote "One Woman in the Himalayas." She notes that women are the target audience for her books.

"The books are about those universal life lessons that are teased out when you strip way the distractions of day-to-day life," she said. "They are about courage, reinvention, gratitude, resilience, community."

Tracy's most recent journey was a return to El Camino in October, where she served about 500 pilgrims at a hostel along the route as her husband, Rick, completed the walk.

She hopes her books and experiences inspire others to go on their own journeys. "You don't need to walk across Spain or take a trip to the Himalayas to take a risk on yourself," she said. "Look for your next inspired step, and take it."