Listen in or view the ZOOM for Alenka Vrecek’s The Women’s Eye Podcast with Jenn Baljko, long-distance walker and author of The In Between: Journeying from Fear to Courage. Jenn’s journey took her an incredible 10,000 miles from Bangkok to Barcelona. What better person to chat with another amazing adventurer than Alenka Vrecek, who introduced us to Jenn, a fellow fearless female with an amazing story to tell and words to share about fighting fear.
Available also on Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube
We met Alenka as a guest on TWE with Stacey Gualandi where they discussed her first memoir, She Rides: Chasing Dreams Across California and Mexico. The book describes her unforgettable experiences riding solo on a mountain bike 2,500 miles across California mountains and the mountains of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
Jenn Baljko began the challenging journey on her birthday in 2016 with her partner Lluís and finished it 3.5 years later.
“It was the hardest birthday of my life. It was a very clear and strong call in my forties. I was ready for it. If the call had come in my twenties or my thirties, I probably would not have been ready. We waited two and a half years before we went…it wasn’t impulsive.”
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Jenn and Lluís needed to plan; research visas; save enough money in the bank and put their former lives in order. Both Alenka and Jenn had family responsibilities they were dealing before their adventures, but felt if they didn’t go when they did, they would not have had another opportunity. As Jenn told Alenka, “You can’t always pick up and run and do these kinds of big journeys…this is a call, probably a soul call.”
These two friends and fellow adventurers discuss these topics and more:
- Whether taking on journeys like this is good for couples
- The concept of home and how they found it on the road
- The kindness of strangers and the country that was the most generous on Jenn’s walk
- Days of euphoria on the road
- What you can learn from taking life-changing journeys
Jenn created worksheets for readers of her book The In Between released earlier this year. In it, she describes her forties as the most courageous time in her life. “There was a willingness to try something new and a curiosity about how it would turn out,” she says. Alenka describes their journeys as “radical departures,” and that they both were lucky to be able to carve out the time to take them.
You can find out more about them and their documentary at Bangkok Barcelona On Foot. They expect their film to be available on demand sometime during 2025. Alenka and Jenn talk about it on the podcast, and from their conversation it is definitely worth the wait. Both of these fearless women truly take journeys of a lifetime. Enjoy this podcast!
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR JENN BALJKO AND ALENKA VRECEK:
Website: jennbaljko
Instagram: bangkokbarcelonaonfoot
Facebook: jbaljko
Website: alenkavrecek
Facebook: alenka.vrecek
Instagram: mother_len/
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What a moving conversation between two courageous, adventuresome, accomplished women! Who both happen to be immigrants. Our community is so fortunate to include them and their wisdom. I especially appreciated Jenn’s comment about having really good intuition, so the “why” wasn’t always a pressing question. What a useful observation—thanks!