Meet the Founders of GETAWAYK™ | Travel With Purpose

Where Creativity Meets Purpose
and Travel Becomes Transformation.

The story behind Getawayk™, and the people who believe
travel can change everything — starting from within.

Get to know Sergio and Anna — and the deeper reason why Getawayk™ was born.

Sergio Barbasso

FOUNDER OF GETAWAYK™

Traveler, storyteller, and voice for meaningful travel.

Hi, I’m Sergio — and I’ve never really known how not to create.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt the need to express something: through design, storytelling, ideas, or projects I just couldn’t ignore.
It’s how I breathe.

But for years, I felt out of place — like that quote from Big Fish that stuck with me for life:

“Kept in a small bowl, the goldfish will remain small. With more space, the fish can grow double, triple, or quadruple its size. It occurred to me then, that perhaps the reason for my growth was that I was intended for larger things.”

I grew up in Italy, in a place where creativity was always appreciated — but never really taken seriously.
“That’s nice… but what’s your real job?”
Yet somehow, despite being afraid of the world, my family always pushed me to try. To give it a shot. To go.

And I went.

I’ve traveled across Europe, Asia, and the U.S., fascinated by how other human beings live the same time on Earth — so differently.

In 2012, something clicked. I landed in California for the first time and fell in love — with the energy, the freedom, and the feeling of riding my longboard for hours along Venice and Huntington Beach.

That’s when I stopped chasing a place to belong — and started building one.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to live a life full of creation:

🏆 Winning international awards for my animated series.
🎬 Building a film festival from scratch that became one of the top-rated in the world in just 3 years…and during a pandemic.
🎟️ Getting an artist visa and U.S. green card through creative merit.
🎨 Launching a nonprofit to help others find purpose through art.

But I also burned out — deeply.
I gave so much… that I forgot to give to myself.

And that’s when I realized:
I had traveled everywhere, except into the place with the most growth of all — myself.

That journey inward changed everything.
I no longer wait for mentors.
I don’t expect anyone else to be disciplined for me.
I believe the inner and outer journey are two sides of the same path — and investing heavily in both is the most powerful thing we can do.

Getawayk™ is the natural extension of that belief.

It’s where my values — growth, freedom, and contribution — finally found a home.

If my story can help you see the world with more wonder…
If my experiences can guide you to live with more presence, curiosity, and depth…
Then maybe my “larger bowl” can help you grow into yours.

Because in the end, that’s what I hope to offer:

A reason to pause.

A new way to look.

A quiet spark that changes how you move through the world.

Want to know more about my journey?
👉 [Read My Full Story]

Anna Zannino

CO-FOUNDER OF GETAWAYK™

Soulful traveler, quiet observer, and co-creator of deeper journeys.

Hi, I’m Anna — and if there’s one thing I’ve learned through travel, it’s that the most important part of a journey often has nothing to do with what you see…
and everything to do with how deeply you feel it.

I’ve always been a quiet observer.
The one who slows down.
The one who notices the light at a certain time of day, the energy of a place, or the smile behind a stranger’s eyes.

Years ago, I left behind a comfortable life in Italy — full of stability, family, and familiarity — and followed a deeper instinct:
that true growth only happens when we step outside what we know.

So I moved to the U.S. with Sergio.
And something shifted.

I started listening differently — to myself, to the people around me, and to the meaning behind the places we visited.
Not just where we were, but who we were becoming through those experiences.

At Getawayk™, I bring that same sensitivity to everything we create.
I help shape the emotional layer behind each guide — asking not just what’s worth seeing, but what’s worth feeling.

Because meaningful travel, for me, isn’t loud or fast.

It’s present.

It’s honest.

It’s human.

If you’re someone who values the quiet details, the emotional texture of a place, and the sense of coming home to yourself when you travel —
I think you’ll feel at home here too.

Why

Because the world doesn't need more travel content. It needs deeper travelers.

Travel today has become too loud, too fast, too shallow.
Endless lists. Copy-paste blogs. Generic tips from people who’ve barely lived the places they write about.

But travel should be something else entirely.
It should wake you up.
Challenge your perspective.
Connect you — to cultures, to people, to yourself.

We created Getawayk™ for those who feel that difference.
For travelers who are done being tourists.
For those who don’t just want to know where to go, but why it matters.

We don’t create guides to impress. We create them to connect.
Each one is built by real people, with lived experience and local insight.
We focus on what can’t be Googled —

the feeling of a place, and what it can teach you if you stop long enough to listen.

This isn’t for everyone. And that’s the point.
We’re not building a platform for the masses.
We’re building a movement for mindful explorers — people who want to travel smarter, and live deeper.

If you’ve read this far, you probably already are one of them.

Welcome to Getawayk™.

Explore Deeper