I cut my teeth on journalism about 19 years ago when I was sent out to cover my first "real" story for a local newspaper. A supermarket was on fire, and I was within shouting distance of the news editor's desk. Lucky for me, I was with a seasoned photographer who pushed my fidgeting body towards the fire chief and encouraged me to come back with some great quotes. Between then and now, I've written about a number of topics for newspapers, magazines, and websites: Property taxes, crime, urban planning, city politics, retail food chains, high tech, supply chain and logistics, consumer gadgets, personal memoirs and adventures, and travel tips to places like Mongolia and Papua New Guinea.

Currently, I contribute to ebnonline.com, a tech site specializing in the electronics supply chain, and volunteer with worldreader.org, a non-profit that's increasing global literacy by providing e-books and e-readers to students in the developing world. I'm also a co-founder in a multimedia venture that tells digital narratives via voice, photo, and video [we call ourselves Objectiva Media, details forthcoming], and am one of the authors writing with the Townsend 11 collective, which recently published its first e-book, No Fixed Destination. Like the rest of the world, I'm getting my hands soaked in social media, too. Follow me on Twitter at @jbaljko.

My spare-time interests are as diversified as my writing. If I'm not backpacking somewhere remote and faraway, I may be watching the castellers in Barcelona, reading a book, jogging in the park, butchering one of the three languages I'm learning, fusing Thai, Catalan, or Mexican recipes, or sitting totally still enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace.

For more info, please visit www.jenniferbaljko.com.