Is it safe to travel to Turkey? A happy note from the sunny seaside

A happy message from the sunny seaside in Turkey. Because its people deserve it.

And for those curious what I am up to in Turkey.

Why you should Travel to Turkey

“Suzanna, Turkish – English?”
Nilsu, my 7 year old neighbour, asks if I can open the google translator. She speaks very few words English. I speak very few words Turkish. But that's no problem. We have become good buddies via hand signals, facial expressions, and google. She starts typing: “bugun icin tesekkur ederim. Denizin alti cok cok guzel yosunlar baliklar” Google says: “I thank you for today. Very, very beautiful golden algae fish in the sea” She smiles and gives me a hug.

This week I helped Nilsu getting comfortable in the funderwaterzone. Where first she was afraid to go where she could not stand, she now happily takes off into the blue sea. Sometimes without the crocodile! This is definitely my highlight of the week! She is discovering the magical world below the surface. And the trashed world… Nilsu, Me and the crocodile have gone on some ocean exploration adventures. We discovered the ‘golden fish' and… plastic! “Suzanne, plastic problem,” and she points to a wrapper floating by. She insists to swim there a.s.a.p and get it out of there. Earlier I showed her a few photo's of my ocean explorations, including those of trashed beaches and fish nippling plastic. It seems like this triggered something. Not just her activism, also her creativity. From one plastic bag she maks a handle for the crocodile, haha. A future leader in the making!

Nilsu & I on the hunt for plastic

I’m currently living the life in Turkey right now. By going local, and making local friends, I found a natural paradise on the Turkish turquoise coast. The sea and it's side is my office. I set up base camp here as a creative writing retreat. I couldn't have found it better. I'm typing this right in front of the sea underneath the olive tree. It’s greenness, the sea, the fresh air,  the sounds of nature and the pure foods coming straight from the soil give me an abundance of positive energy. 

But most rich are the people. In kindness. They are warm and hospitable and care about the benefit of the group, not themselves like we do too much in the west. They invite me for breakfast, Turkish coffee, lunch, teatime, dinner, more teatime, more teatime and more teatime. I can refill my olives box and olive oil jar from their produce whenever I run out. But I don't run out because they keep giving. They invite me in their homes, take me on boat trips and enthusiastically share with me their culture, heritage, customs and time. They laugh, they joke, they play. Together. ‘They' is not just 1 family. It's the dozens of people I have met so far during my Turkey travel adventure. Everywhere on the west coast, I found this beauty and kindness.

I feel relaxed, at ease and citizen of this world being indulged in all the Turkish warmness. I feel safer in a Turkish coastal town than I would in any big trafficked city or crowd in the world. So do not worry about me. I’m not ignorant. I’m up to date and cautious, and as always follow my instinct, which tells me to stay on this natural playground. The biggest risk I face here is that I get a caffeine overdose from the all the teas and coffees the generous people of Turkey are giving me. 

No where in the world it’s 100% safe. But we shouldn't forget to live, instead of survive. I think we should cut out on media consumption, go outside, talk to people from all sorts of backgrounds, and explore for ourselves. Then form an opinion. We don't know what’s going to happen because we’re living in the now. With the world getting overpopulated and exploited, more environmental and social events will stress our lives. It is extremely likely, if not a fact, that only more is going to happen.

The choice is ours on how to respond to it. And how to pro-act. 

“You will only ever have 2 choices. Choose love and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.” – Jim Carrey.

So time to go out and play. We have an ocean to save.

Turkey Travel Tips:

For the perfect budgetfriendly writing retreat near the sea side, local experience and budget-friendly coastal town I recommend the town of Mazi (nice anchorage too btw!)

Where to stay in Mazi, Turkey?

Via via I was able to rent a little studio.I've explored the whole bay (Bay Inceeyali-not hurna, which is the bigger one)

Recommended places to stay in Mazi:

Mazi Kale Pension (The view can't get better)

Merve Apart Holidays Homes

Yakamoz Pension (Right on the beach)

Say hi from Suzanne if you happen to go there!!

How to get to Mazi, Turkey?

Every hour there's a bus going from Bodrum. It's about a 40 minute ride from the Airport to Mazi. A cab is around 150 Lire (50 euro).

Find more Turkey travel positiveness on aworld to travel, where I wrote two guest posts on Turkey travel: Should I travel to Turkey? and A sense of place of the Bodrum peninsula.

With love from the safe and sunny seaside,
Suzanne

Thank you Turkey family, Turkey Travel, Barbaros Yachting and everyone from Mazi to make me feel so welcome.