Erik is an author, publisher, moderator and podcast host from Berlin, Germany. He has published an impressive amount of work, ranging from travel guides, travel books, short story anthologies to magazine articles and more. He is also the founder of Weltwach (which roughly translates to world awake), a German online magazine for adventure and travel topics. The related podcast, hosted and produced by Erik, already has produced 188 episodes and counting.
Since last year, the Weltwach podcast produces an English offshoot called Unfolding Maps. The impressive guest list includes Laura Dekker, the youngest person to ever sail around the world solo, the endurance artist “Iceman” Wim Hof, and, one of my personal role models, National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry.
Especially beautiful to me is the book series How We See It, which is an anthology of short stories focusing on a particular country by offering the perspectives of the many. Each voice is acting as a building block emphasizing cultural abundance. Kind of like the mathematical letter PI that offers more accuracy with every single digit behind the comma, attempting the impossibility of squaring the circle. Just like it, culture needs many voices to be representative. Erik’s books make that very clear to me.
Originally, Erik studied International Marketing and Business Management in the Netherlands, Hongkong and Great Britain. If he would have studied travel, if that had been a viable study course option at university, or if his cultural thirst was acquired through his higher education, we will discuss in today’s episode - and, as always, a lot more.
SHOW NOTES
Weltwach German Podcast [https://weltwach.de/]
Weltwach on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/weltwach/]
Weltwach on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/Weltwach]
Unfolding Maps English Podcast [https://unfoldingmaps.com/]
Unfolding Maps on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/unfolding.maps/]
Unfolding Maps on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/unfoldingmapspodcast/]
List of Erik's books [https://weltwach.de/erik-lorenz/]
The One & Only Jim Kroft [http://jimkroft.com/]
Peter Willers, Defusing mines in Cambodia [https://weltwach.de/podcast-002-kambodscha/]
Khmer Rouge [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge]
Christine Thürmer [https://weltwach.de/ww068-christine-thuermer/]
Eric Adams [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Adams_(musician)]
Manowar [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manowar]
Hans Rosling on Population Growth, TEDx [https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_global_population_growth_box_by_box]
Massai [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massai]
Jared Diamond [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Diamond]
Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond, 1997 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel]
Upheaval, Jared Diamond, 2019 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upheaval_(book)]
Japanese Meiji era [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_(era)]
Matthew C. Perry [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_(era)]
Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/yellowvan]
Yellow Van Stories is a
00:00:00 The Essence of Travel
00:01:06 Introducing Bastian and the Yellow Van Stories Podcast
00:01:58 Guest Spotlight: Eric Lorenz
00:04:00 What is your reason for being in Philadelphia?
00:05:50 Are you currently living in Philadelphia or just visiting?
00:09:49 Eric's Accomplishments in Travel Writing
00:20:56 Passion-Driven Success
00:22:35 The Birth of the Veltwach Podcast
00:31:14 Podcasting as an Educational Tool
00:38:51 What does adventure and travel actually mean to different people?
00:43:58 The Role of Diverse Storytelling
00:50:58 Networking Through Podcasting
00:52:37 Travel and Empathy
00:56:17 Cultural Authenticity and Responsibility
01:18:52 How can change and integration of change concerning climate issues be achieved without significant growing pains, and should it come from internal efforts or external assistance?
01:24:45 Writing About Other Cultures
01:32:58 Travel and the Pandemic's Impact
01:37:56 Exploring Local Adventures
01:46:03 Pandemic-Induced Global Perspective Shifts
01:52:02 The Power of Storytelling in Community Building
01:54:54 What special event is planned for April in the Yellow Van podcast?
