Yeah I’m sure, I know admittedly little about the country, just that most people I’ve met haven’t found it particularly exciting as a tourist
15 days in Istanbul so far and I think it just might be my favorite city. The place is dripping in history and culture, tons of great sites for tourists, but I’ve also been recommended several lesser known places and they’re really unique and different. I’ve only scratched the surface, but am excited to find out more. Also, the food is great and incredibly cheap, well everything is incredibly cheap at the moment.
It’s also a city full of contrasts. Several areas feel progressive and you’ll find feminist graffiti and left-wing events going on, but obviously it’s a majority Muslim country so the sounds of the calls to prayer are ever present.
I hired a real estate agent to help find an apartment and she sent me pics of a pretty nice 2-bedroom in an area of the city called Nisantasi that has a similar vibe to the Upper East Side in NYC. I was excited to see the place, but was warned that the owner “hated foreigners”. Anyway, I later found out that he only hates Arab foreigners and was happy to hear I was American (yay white privilege). So I signed a contract for a year and am excited to start our new life (for the next year, maybe more) here in Istanbul.
Now if only they can get Erdogan out in the elections next year. He’s polling waaaay behind, but I doubt the elections are very legit.
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Seems that it will be basically impossible for me to enter the Republic of Artsakh.
The Russian government controls visa distribution and has been rejecting all Americans who attempt to enter.
Now one would think, “You’re not just American. Use your other passport.” However, my place of birth on my Irish passport is listed as “USA” which will almost certainly result in being rejected.
Apparently, even having the right paperwork won’t guarantee entry due to misinformation spread by the Russian government.
Not sure if I should still split my two weeks in July between Armenia and Georgia or if I should spend them in Turkey. Seems that the flight costs are basically the same but housing seems to be the big divider in cost of staying there.
I mean is it that big of a deal to go to the Republic of Artsakh? It sounds more like some sort of novelty thing to say that you did it more than anything else, right?
Super jealous. Wish I was able to be a nomad like that.
Awesome man. I went there right after 2 months in Africa back in 2010 and was blown away, but I probably would have been blown away even by Skopje at that point given what Africa was like. I’ve always worried I look back on Istanbul with rose colored glasses, so it’s nice to hear you think it’s as good as I did.
i’ve seen it at an indie theater. 10/10.
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I like going to more obscure, lesser-travelled places when possible.
Who knows if the place is even going to exist in the near future? They lost 75% of their land to the Azeris in last year’s war.
What’s kickass is finding someone who wants to travel with you for so long.
Normally, you sacrifice long-term connections for a nomadic life but to have both is pretty awesome.
Cats are everywhere. Impossible to go on a lengthy walk and not encounter at least a dozen. My girlfriend’s new pasttime is stopping to pet them all.
There are dogs as well, but not many. Without fail, the dogs are all a little overweight due to being well fed (overfed). The stray animals are so well taken care of here, it’s nice to see.
I’m gonna watch that doc w/the gf as soon as I can find it online.
To me it seems like Mexico City on steroids. So if you love CDMX, then it’s probably impossible not to love Istanbul. I think Istanbul is fairly polarizing too. Some people love it and some people hate that it can be noisy, chaotic, dirty at times, busy. The setting is just so naturally beautifully though. There are amazing views to be had all over. And I still can’t get over how awesome it is being able to take a ferry from Europe to Asia for about 50 cents.
But my gf is from CDMX, which has to be the loudest and largest city outside of Asia. We both spend a lot of time indoors b/c we both work from home, so it’s a godsend to have such vibrancy and chaos right outside your door. I think it brings balance. Whereas some people just want to relax after working a long day in an office, we want to feel more alive. And frankly, after living in CDMX, a lot of cities of even a few million people can feel a bit sleepy. So I was 99% sure we’d love Istanbul based on what I’d been reading before arriving.
Yes, this is a great point.
In the first few years of nomading, in New Zealand, then Montreal, then France, I was completely hooked on the lifestyle, but it was really difficult leaving behind friends and women I’d met. Especially for me, as someone who doesn’t really have the outgoing personality to go into a bar and instantly meet 3 new people. It takes time to make those connections and then to start from 0 in a new place can feel a bit daunting. Probably a big part of why I’ve been able to stick with it for 11 years is that I don’t mind occasional periods where I’m mostly in the apartment alone, walking around alone, without much non-superficial contact. I think for more extroverted people, this part can sometimes be too difficult.
OKCupid, then Tinder/Bumble kinda changed that. I was never great at dating, but with using available resources (like the 2+2 Online Dating thread) and analyzing my approach I got pretty good at it. So when I arrived at some of my later destinations, like Lyon, CDMX, Medellín, I basically already had a mini-social circle set up when arriving, and 3-4 women to meet and show me around the city the first week I arrived.
As the years passed I found myself wanting to meet a girl to “settle down” with rather than just a bunch of casual dating in each new place. When I met my girlfriend 2.8 years ago, she was teaching in CDMX. We both pretty much knew within 30 minutes that it was a perfect match.
She had Summer break, so we started traveling through Mexico together. Only about 2-3 weeks after meeting, we did a 6-day San Miguel/Guanajuato trip together. That trip basically confirmed that she was the one for me b/c meeting someone once a week is one thing, but spending an extended time with them you see the true person. Eventually, we traveled to Guadalajara, León, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta together. So we got to travel in Mexico when we had time, but I kinda figured the international nomading would be placed on the back-burner, and the focus would be mostly on Mexico, with occasional trips back to USA or in Latin America with my gf, and I was ok with that.
As luck would have it, she lost her teaching job soon before the pandemic started. I had been using a site called italki extensively to learn French/Spanish one-on-one via Zoom/Skype with a teacher, so I suggested she give it a try teaching Spanish. She really liked it and slowly started accumulating more students. So now we both had remote jobs and the ability to live wherever.
Due to COVID, we didn’t leave Mexico, even though I was itching to explore the rest of the world with her, as she’d never been outside of Mexico. So we moved to Puerto Vallarta for 6 months. Then we did 3 months in Brazil. Eventually, after she was finally able to get her 2nd dose in late '21, we planned our first Euro-trip together. The first 3 months in Spain/France/Greece, and then arriving in Istanbul in early March.
So far it seems like she loves the travel aspect as much as I do, which I’m grateful for. As Bob mentioned, often with this lifestyle, you have to sacrifice the long-term connections for nomadic freedom, but now I feel like I’ve got both, and I couldn’t be happier.
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Great stuff. I assume you fund all this with online poker? Feel free to ignore if that’s touchy.
Also you are killing me right now as I planned on being a nomad again by summer 2020. At this point I’m so close and basically getting paid to write the book that i have to see it through. But I’m starting to get the itch stronger and more frequently. Threads like this don’t help.
Yep, only online poker since 2005. It can be difficult b/c constant travel can get very expensive, and often I have little motivation to play when I’ve arrived to a new place, but I’ve managed. I think the pandemic also brought a mini resurgence. Or maybe it’s just people with money from crypto/NFTs dabbling in poker.
Looking forward to your book, especially after having explored a bit of Guatemala and Mexico. I had planned a country hopping trip through Central America all the way to Panamá, but unfortunately I shelved it due to the pandemic, and now I’m not sure when we’ll have the opportunity.
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Fair enough, I just thought it would be kind of shame to toss out the Georgia/Armenia trip if you can’t get into Artsakh. Georgia is really great! And you’ve still got Abkhazia and South Ossetia to check out for disputed regions :p
Can only get to South Ossetia through Russia unfortunately.
Not sure about Abkhazia.
Damn, from quick googling it looks like Abkhazia is doable from Georgia though
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I do have a potentially irrational fear of having my prescribed anticonvulsants being mistaken for something that they aren’t.
I mean it hasn’t stopped me from travelling with them basically everywhere. But I definitely wouldn’t be able to defend myself effectively.
Yea, I just can’t imagine if they’re in the proper container and you’ve got a prescription on paper or a photo of it on your phone that you would ever have any trouble. The only time i’ve ever had my stuff looked at closely enough to get medications questioned is coming back into the US.
Some favorite photos so far from Istanbul. We took the ferry today from the European side to the Asian side and back. It only costs 35 cents which is kinda absurd.
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Nice shot of the Blue Mosque from the water there.
Do you plan to travel anywhere else in Turkey outside of Istanbul?
I’m dying to see inside, but it’s been under renovation for a little while.
Yah, we’re planning to travel Turkey pretty extensively. Looks like there are quite a few appealing spots.