Turkey

While planning my trip to Turkey, my friends and family were concerned about my going. Stories had been circulating about how it was not safe to go to Turkey. One cause for concern was that a referendum would soon be held in Turkey that had the potential to widely expand the powers of President Erdogan. As the election got closer, violent protests were breaking out. Erdogan had put Turkey into a state of emergency which allowed police to stop and detain anybody without reason.

I read a news article about a tan-skinned backpacker that was detained at the beach simply for not having her passport on her. I heard another story of an American girl who was kept in custody at the Istanbul airport when security found a rock, which they argued was an illegally obtained historical artifact, in her luggage. Before going to Turkey, I was hearing news stories about Erdogan making it illegal to teach Evolution in school. There were a few bombings in Istanbul and Izmir the previous year. Also, the border with Syria was dangerous due to the ongoing Syrian war.

In spite of all this, I went anyways, met some of the most amazing people and had a wonderful, safe trip. Don’t believe everything you hear about a country before you go. Take the proper precautions (have your passport on you, always be polite and respectful, do your research, be careful getting into political debates) but don’t let fear turn you into somebody that judges an entire country based on what you hear in the news. The media only propagates the horror stories in order to paint a picture of a villainous country. They aren’t going to tell you about the kind Turkish families that will go out of their way to help you.

I started and ended my two month Turkish adventure in Istanbul.

Istanbul

I spent a month volunteering at a farm in Fethiye. In my free time I was able to uncover a lot of activities in the area.

Fethiye

My last month was spent living completely off-grid at a far near Izmir.

Izmir

I had the most amazing time in Turkey, a country many people had warned me to avoid. My two best Workaway experiences were here. Derek and I met incredible people and know that we will always have places to stay when we return to Turkey. I hope reading this has shattered any stereotypes you may have had about Turkey. It is a beautiful country with genuinely nice people and I am so happy to have gone there!