See You Along the Way: Reflections of a Veteran Hiking the Camino de Santiago, Meck Colonel Tracey

A retired Air Force officer and veteran of Afghanistan, Iraq, Djibouti and humanitarian deployments embarks on a journey of spiritual and self-rediscovery along the five-hundred-mile ancient pilgrimage: the Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of Saint James. Physically and mentally beat up and exhausted, Colonel Tracey Meck struggles to find a new identity and purpose after retiring from the only adult life she had known. As she endeavors to overcome physical pain and limitations, she is determined to redeem herself after failing to complete the trek two years earlier. Along The Way, she reflects on her Air Force career, from being a part of the seventh class with women at the Air Force Academy through four combat deployments to include a year leading interagency reconstruction and development efforts in two Afghan provinces as the Provincial Reconstruction Team Gardez Commander. Weaving through it all is her spiritual journey as she struggles with experiences that feed both spiritual growth and recurring doubts.