Finding adventure, friendships, meaning, love, and a super-sweet cat called Sonia, all in the land beyond the forests, aka Transylvania. Julia’s relationship with Romania is nothing short of rich, to say the least. She is a buoyant soul coming from Ukraine, who has explored much of what Eastern Europe has to offer and who enjoys connecting with interesting people on a regular basis. That is how she created initiatives such as Transilventures, a community of Romanians and expats who want to enjoy the best of what Transylvania has to offer. In this episode, Julia lets us know her thoughts on why she fell for Transylvania, what binds Ukrainians and Romanians, but what also sets them apart, what she thinks of pig roasting in Bucharest, what the challenges are to settle in Romania as an expat, and more. Get your chill mood on, it’s podcast time with Julia Leescu!

Matteo from Italy, or Matt for short, is a youth worker and writer with a passion for positive change. A gentle young man, Matt’s purpose is to create the space for personal transformation especially around children who have less hope for life through art, travel, and non-formal education. He found himself in the summer of 2019 in Romania, teaching empathy, compassion, communication, and self-discovery to different age-groups in the village of Haghig, Covasna. The ride so far has had its challenges, from finding out a way to gain the children’s trust, although he didn’t speak their language, to dealing with harsh discrimination against the Roma community (even from the Roma community itself). Listen to Matt’s thoughts on the benefit of non-formal education for these kids, how he dealt with his first months in the country, how is it to work in rural Romania, his experience at Romanian funerals, and more. Please enjoy the conversation!

Bulgaria and Romania share so much history, so many cultural aspects, and even words (hello zacusca!). And yet, these two nations seem to have gone their own way, on a different path from one another. Instead of studying the tidbits of some far-away land, today we take a closer look at Romania’s old neighbour through the eyes of Stefan Nenov. A young marketeer and aspiring entrepreneur, Stefan has not lived in Romania, but instead, has gotten close with the Romanian people and culture, especially through work. In Episode 7, we dive deep into the common past shared by the two countries, what connects the two cultures at their core, what both Romanians and Bulgarians should learn about meeting their potential, and what actions both could take for a prosperous future. Enjoy this rich conversation with Stefan!

Alisa State has always exuded a crazy love for life. She cannot live too far away from nature, she’s always on the go, and has more than enough energy to love and care for her beautiful Latvian-Romanian son as a single mom in Brașov. She didn’t know much about Romania before she decided to change her life forever. But the decision to explore and make Romania her home remained one close to her heart. In this episode, we dive deep into Alisa’s love for the Romanian customs and traditions, her hope for its society, what makes Transylvania so great, the Romanian education system, and what Romania can learn from Latvia in dealing with its communist past. Listen to all of that and more in episode 6 of Wo/anderers. Happy audition!

Love is the magic word for the first Wo/anderers podcast of 2020. You will hear it come back again and again in today’s episode, because love represents the glue that binds together all of the dreams, aspirations, and experiences of our podcast guest, Damita Pressl. She is a Viennese woman to the core, with dirndls, Waltzing Balls, and a typical cosmopolitan attitude to match. She found out about Romania from Harry Potter, but it was love that immersed her in this culture for good. In today’s special New Year’s episode, we will talk about Damita’s love for Bucharest, why she thinks Romanian is an easy language to master, political corruption, the Colectiv case, and more. Enjoy the conversation in Episode 5: From Vienna, with Love

Abhishek Pandey, or Panda for his friends, knows all about Romanian adventures that change you. Currently working in the banking sector in Poland, Romania prepared Panda more personally than professionally. He came through a volunteering program at the age of 18 from India to Pitești, being drawn in by the educational impact that he could have on teenagers as a trainer. Little did he know he would end up falling in love with the country’s people, its hospitable culture, and its lessons in what it means to be human. He also was impressed by how important Christmas is in Romania. Listen to Panda’s journey through Romania and get some Christmas cheer with episode 4 of the Wo/anderers podcast!

Imagine an old man, taking care of his little coffee house next to the beach, talking to strangers and getting to know them better. This is Luis Garcia’s dream, inspired by his first out-of-the-country experience that took him to Romania. The Belgian-born, half-Spanish-half-Belgian is still in his early 20s, but is already aiming to achieve his dream of living life in a laid-back, relaxed manner as soon as he can. Straight after finishing highschool, Luis decided to adventure out into the world. Although planning to move to Cluj-Napoca, he eventually ended up living in Brașov, where he rediscovered his love for nature, his passion for snowboarding, and got to know himself more than ever before. Enjoy listening to Luis’ winter adventures in episode 3 of Wo/anderers!

A former soldier in the Royal Netherlands Army turned traveling gardening salesman, Bart Lunenburg from the Netherlands takes the stage for episode 2. He found Romania by accident in the middle of his soul-searching, at a time when he needed some drastic change in his life. Following a “why not” attitude and diving head-first into the unknown, Bart flew to Romania and never looked back. Living and working in Brașov, Bart got to find himself through beautiful friendships, road-trip adventures, and being touched by the unique Romanian hospitality and spirit. It was the best decision he could ever take. Bart is even reaping the benefits of his Romanian wo/ander now, in his current job – which he calls his dream job. He says his Romanian experience was the key to secure this opportunity. Overall, Romania carved a soft spot in Bart’s heart. We get to discover this together in episode 2.