 Erika has lived in Berlin as well as London and fallen in love with both.
An avid equestrian who is allergic to horses, she is also an art, history
and music lover who enjoys trying new foods, meeting new people, and
learning new things. Always up for a challenge, she thrives on the feeling
that every place and every person she meets changes her in some way. She
enjoys seeing how people live their daily lives and is especially drawn to
the experiences of other women in the world.
It is one of her favorite indulgences to read a work of fiction by an
author of the place she is about to visit. For her, this offers a
particular perspective, history, and background which proves invaluable to
her travel experiences. Erika is certainly a person who enjoys the finer
things in life, but finds “comfort challenged” trips equally appealing.
She is most interested in learning the extraordinary stories of ordinary
people.
Erika grew up in a small, isolated town in Northern California. A true
book-nerd at heart, she studied American Ethnic and Postcolonial
Literatures and went on to complete an MA in International Literatures at
the University of London, Institute of English Studies. The more she read,
the more she wanted to meet people rather than just read about them. The
study of identity in migrant and postcolonial communities particularly
inspired a deep interest in meeting the people of the world.
Among her most memorable experiences … hurtling through the chaotic
streets of Rome on the back of a scooter ranks at the top, as does sharing
a kebab in Istanbul with a cat who jumped on the table with such dignity
(as cats are want to do) that she could not refuse. She loved sipping hot
wine on a cold day in Venice, snorkeling with sea turtles in Maui,
climbing the Eiffel Tower with her mother, basking in an ancient Roman
bath with friends in Tuscany, stopping at a home in the countryside of
southern Poland for a spectacular home cooked meal, and taking a boat ride
through the bayou with her dad feeding marshmallows to alligators.
She recently had the rare privilege of being caught in a thunder and
lightening storm of incredible proportions while listening to Hungarian
violinists in the coliseum in Pula. Such rain is apparently unheard of in
Croatia in August - she’s still drying out.
One of her fondest memories is being invited for lunch into the home of an
Egyptian family she had just met while buying sodas from them in Hurghada.
She also will not forget the pleasure of meeting a very colorful, rifle
toting taxi driver in Mexico one night when trying to get back to her
hotel alone.
New to the world of freelance writing, Erika is thoroughly enjoying the
combination of three of her favorite things; travel, research and writing
and she fully appreciates a job which fits in with her nomadic lifestyle
and gives her an excuse to meet people and ask questions.
Email Erika at
erikawri@yahoo.com
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