In August 2024, I attended the Travel Writer’s & Photographers Conference at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA. I met some incredibly inspiring new friends there, including Jenn Baljko. Jenn is an American author based just outside of Barcelona, where she lives with her partner, Lluís. A conference highlight for me is when they showed Jenn & Lluís new documentary, “Bangkok to Barcelona on Foot.” Yes, you read that correctly - Jenn and Lluís decided to take a “long walk before they were old and broken,” and walked 10,000 miles from Bangkok to Barcelona! From 2016-2019, they completed this epic journey and discovered so much about themselves as well as the kindness of others. They are hoping the documentary will be available on a streaming service sometime this Spring, but in the meantime you can watch the trailer here.
Click on the above link to listen to the interview or listen to “Mixtape Travels” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
About Jenn Baljko
Jenn Baljko is an award-winning author, avid traveler, longtime walker and a lifetime learner. Professionally, she was a journalist and freelance writer for almost 30 years, and she now mentors aspiring authors, GenXers and Crones, helping them to write, edit and finish their memoirs and nonfiction books. Jenn was the lead author and developmental editor for the collaborative book, Fierce Awakenings: Calling in Courage and Confidence to Walk Life’s Spiral Path, published in 2023. Her first solo book, which draws on her Bangkok-Barcelona walk experience, The In Between: Journeying From Fear to Courage was published in 2024. You can learn more about Jenn by visiting her website: https://www.alwaysonmyway.com and follow her on Instagram @jennbaljko and @bangkokbarcelonaonfoot as well as here on Substack at Jenn Baljko.
A few of Jenn’s personal milestones:
Completed 4 marathons; 2 x 199-mile, 12-person relays, and more half marathons and 10K races than she can remember
Drove across the United States
Backpacked solo for nearly seven months in southern Europe, and during that trip, met Lluís, her life companion, in a square in Barcelona
Traveled the Americas from Montreal to Patagonia for 4.5 months
Walked the 585-kilometer GR 92 trail in 20 days crossing Catalonia from north to south
Walked 10,000 miles from Bangkok to Barcelona with her partner Lluís
Can hold conversations in English, Catalan, (some) Croatian, and Spanish
Learned how to get by with a smile and a simple “thank you” said in various languages
🎙️Subscribe to the “Mixtape Travels” Podcast — Inspiring Travel Conversations for Gen X
Here’s how:
Search for “Mixtape Travels” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and hit “Follow.” Note you can also listen to all episodes on The Gomes Guide “Podcasts” tab here on Substack.
Copy and paste this URL into your web browser and bookmark so you never miss an episode: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2450035.rss
Please “Follow, Rate, Review, and Share” the Mixtape Travels podcast. I’ve spent my entire career in PR & Marketing so I can attest that “word of mouth” is king! Thank you! 🙏
Jenn, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your epic journey with all of us and can’t wait until the documentary is available on a streaming service soon. I’ll be sure to keep my readers posted on the status here!
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