<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">A few years ago, Paula Francis lived a relatively normal life. She had a stable job working as a consultant for non-profit organizations in her home state of Vermont, where she lived comfortably and traveled place to place using normal modes of transportation, such as a car or city bus.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Today, Francis, sporting a headband, a fannypack and an orange vest with “HappinessWalk.com” emblazoned across the front, finds herself strolling into Lake Charles on the 15th day of a trek that began in Baton Rouge. She plans to finish in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 25 after a month straight of walking from city to city.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">She’s not a hitchhiker looking for sights to see or a floater looking for the next place to sleep. Rather, this atypical nomad and her walking partners are on the eighth of a 14-leg journey in which they plan to collectively walk around the continental United States on a mission to spread their message of “Gross National Happiness.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The idea is to spread with people that we meet along the way that there are other ways of defining success,” Francis said. “If we were to truly measure the things that matter, what would those things be?”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Francis co-founded Gross National Happiness USA in 2009 after a trip to Bhutan — a nation coined the happiest country in Asia by Business Week Magazine — where Francis said success is not measured economically as much as it is spiritually.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“They don’t measure gross domestic product,” Francis said. “Instead, they’ve always kept a measure of the happiness of their people. It’s a concept that has been catching fire across the globe, including certain pockets across the United States that are considering these expanded measures of well being and happiness to determine whether we are progressing or successful.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">By happiness, Francis doesn’t mean fleeting moments of bliss, but rather something more sustained and satisfactory. The kind of happiness that comes from spending time with family or the sense of satisfaction and self-worth one feels helping someone in need.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">In 2012, Francis decided it was time she take her message to the streets, quite literally, and she organized her first walk from Middlesex, Vt., to Washington D.C., on which she and fellow walkers would stop in major towns along the way and teach people about this philosophy she had adopted and ask them how do they define happiness.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">She then took the data her group collected, had it transcribed and analyzed by the University of Vermont which will ultimately flesh out and present the themes of her conversations with people across the country.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Francis immediately became hooked.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">What was meant to be a one-time journey inspired her to take her trek nationwide, and in 2014, she quit her job and began planning routes around the United States that she could complete in month-long stretches around the country.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“I initially had no intention of walking around the country,” Francis said. “Now, I will have walked 8,000 miles when it’s all said and done.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Francis reached the milestone of 2,500 total miles Monday on her way to Lake Charles from Welsh.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Francis said she’s yet to come across a state much like Louisiana. From the ever-present hospitality to the strong sense of community and family to the constant celebrations for which Louisiana natives seem to need no excuse, Louisiana has become a standout in her mind.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“There’s something really special about this state,” Francis said. “Friendliness and hospitality are totally off the charts. We have had a wealth of people offer to host us, feed us and even transport us. It’s been such an amazing state to visit.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The crew will stay in Lake Charles to celebrate Mardi Gras before departing on Wednesday westbound toward Houston, the next big stop on their journey.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Francis encouraged those interested in Gross Domestic Happiness USA to visit GNHUSA.org. People can keep track of her walk and find out about future walks at HappinessWalk.com.</span><p>As part of The Happiness Walk USA</p>