Our Team

MEET KIM GIOVACCO

Founder of Veg Jaunts and Journeys

When I was in my 20s and 30s, I loved nothing more than grabbing a guidebook, booking a flight, and jaunting through some incredible destinations.

As a vegetarian at the time, I never felt I could join an organized tour because I knew food choices would be limited at the restaurants chosen for the group. Then, a few years ago, when I became a vegan, my travel choices were even more limited. Not only for food, but for animal compassion. Many tour companies offer the chance to ride an elephant, or visit a local leather market — but that was not for me.

I loved traveling solo — but I knew there was something missing.

There were places I longed to visit but did not feel quite comfortable traveling alone. I was definitely missing a sense of camaraderie, the “instant friends” a tour provides. And, having everything planned for me.

So, what was a vegan filled with wanderlust to do?

Well, after decades spent on the periphery of the travel industry – working at a well-known map publisher, the Korean tourist office, then the economic development board for Singapore – complemented by my 25 years of personal travel experiences – I founded Veg Jaunts and Journeys in 2016.

I created this company to give travelers like us the kinds of tours and experiences I had missed out on.

My tours and custom vacations are crafted exclusively for travelers who follow a vegan lifestyle. Of course, I seek out all vegan restaurants for us and engage travelers in vegan-friendly activities and excursions along the way – such as visiting an animal sanctuary or taking a vegan market tour, along with activities that reflect the history or culture of the destination.

MEET MARK CERKVENIK

Chef, Founder of Let’s Eat Great Food

Growing up in the Chicago area, through most of his early adult life, Mark ate a diet consisting of roast beef, cheese burgers, fried chicken, French fries, vegetables cooked in butter, and salads swimming in dressing. Mark struggled with his weight throughout his life and tried many approaches to improve his health.

For almost 15 years he worked in leadership roles at Loyola University Health System and Northwestern Medicine training and coaching clinical leaders whose departments saw thousands of patients dealing with chronic illnesses. He often thought there must be a better way to treat and prevent diseases besides frequent doctor visits and a lifetime of prescription drugs. In addition to his own health issues, his parents, in-laws and close friends suffered from acute or chronic health issues largely as a result of their food choices.

Mark was a pescatarian (eating cheese, fish and vegetables) for over 25 years, but not until he adopted a whole food plant-based diet in 2018 did he see tremendous improvement in his health and a path to maintain a healthy weight. Through the evidence based research by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), he learned an approach to improving his health and preventing and/or managing chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer and now is focused on sharing this knowledge in his community.

In addition to being licensed by PCRM as a Food For Life instructor, Mark provides coaching for individuals and couples on transitioning to a sustainable plant based diet as well as workshops and workplace seminars on a variety of health related topics, in addition to whole food plant based, no oil tours.

Mark has taken his passion for cooking, guided by the celebrity chefs he considers mentors, including Jacques Pépin, Lidia Bastianch, and Paul Hollywood, and creates gourmet whole food plant based, no oil dishes throughout the United States on tours to locations such as
Charleston, South Carolina; Asheville, North Carolina; mid-coast Maine; Sedona, Arizona; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He customizes regional recipes and prepares delicious entrees such as mushroom etouffee, hoppin’ John, Johnny cakes with blueberries, “crab cakes” with remoulade, “lobsta” rolls, she “crab” soup, and a twist on hummus, roasted cauliflower hummus.

You can find Mark at www.letseatgreat.com, on Facebook @letseatgreatfood

MEET LORRIE CERKVENIK

Sous Chef

Lorrie follows a whole-food plant-based lifestyle, but grew up in the Chicago area eating the Standard American Diet of beef, chicken, pork, fast food, cheese, and one of her favorite Lithuanian
dishes, kugelis.

She is an only child and managed her parents healthcare through the highs and lows of their lives until they passed away during 2016 and 2017. Through this life experience, Lorrie quickly learned that healthcare generally only treats the symptoms and never really addresses the root cause of chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart failure, breast cancer, and Alzheimers.

Lorrie worked as a medical technologist for over 14 years and a greenhouse manager for over 15 years and now uses skills learned in these careers in her work as a sous and pastry chef and business partner with Mark at Let’s Eat Great Food.

Her attention to detail and organizational skills learned as a medical technologist and knowledge of horticulture gained as a greenhouse manager ensures students and guests enjoy dishes prepared by Mark and include the freshest, organic produce and seasonings.

Lorrie is very humble, loves to work on tasks and prefers to remain in the background supporting classes and tours. However, her delicious pastry dishes thrust her into the forefront with desserts such as lemon squares with a roasted pumpkin seed crust, peach cobbler, blueberry crumble and a ridiculously luscious vegan chocolate cake with cinnamon roll “ice cream.”

MEET MAIREAD SARDINA

Tour Organizer, Leader, and Office Assistant

Ever since childhood Mairead has had a deep sense of wanderlust and has sought out ways to experience different cultures and places. Early on she discovered the joy in learning about other cultures and sharing her own.

She spent her teen years teaching karate classes (even traveling to a couple of countries to do so) and leading summer youth camps. Then in her early 20s, right after coming home from a delectable trip to Italy and Croatia, she received a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease, and the ease of travel as she had known it came to an end. As she became vegan and gluten-free, travel became much harder and she became more keenly aware of the world around her and the limitations created by traveling with dietary needs. At first, she was pessimistic and avoided travel that she thought would be challenging for herself or her travel companions. During this learning period, she began to notice that spending time in nature was healing in a way that paralleled the trials and tribulations of traveling. She realized that working to fulfill this quintessentially human need for play and community, in tandem with nature, was her driving passion. She went on to graduate from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2018 with a degree in Recreation Administration and an emphasis on the applications of therapeutic recreation.

Mairead stayed on to work with the university for five years as the Program Coordinator of the outdoor program through Center Activities and the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center. Now, as a certified Wilderness First Responder, ACA Coastal Kayak L2 Instructor, Swift Water Rescuer, and Waterfront Lifeguard, Mairead guides for a number of companies in activities such as backpacking and kayaking.

No matter how big or small the journey, she is excited to be able to share her passion for making travel accessible for all!

MEET JENN WILLETT

Tour Organizer and Leader

Jenn is thrilled to be part of the Veg Jaunts and Journeys team and feels that vegan travel has changed her life, allowing her to explore with like-minded individuals, many of whom have become lifelong friends. She began her journey to veganism back in 1990 when she got a job at Gentle Strength Food Coop in Tempe, AZ, and simultaneously adopted her first pet, a cat named Cally, who taught her all about loving a non-human being. The confluence of exposure to new ideas regarding food, health, environment, and animal activism had a profound impact on Jenn, and eschewing animal products is the best decision she ever made.

In her everyday life, Jenn is an avid vegan baker (because the best way to be an ambassador for the cause is to feed people really amazing food!), a part-time yoga teacher, and companion to four cats, and an extremely fat dog. She looks forward to planning and leading some amazing European tours, as well as helping Veg Jaunts and Journeys expand its offerings to tours and volunteer opportunities at animal sanctuaries.

MEET WENDY WERNETH

Tour Leader

Born in the US, Wendy has spent more than half her life living and traveling abroad and has visited more than 100 countries. After living in Lisbon for nearly seven years and becoming an American-Portuguese dual citizen, she recently relocated to Rome – her favorite city in the world. She is the author of the Nomadic Vegan blog and the book Veggie Planet, and she loves to seek out vegan local specialties in the places she visits.