Dalyan – 7th & 8th January

I’d arranged to look after a cute dog from Tuesday 7th January. I had my Yorkshire tea and overnight oats with grapefruit for breakfast. I packed up my work stuff and some food for lunch and dinner, plus wellies as it looked like rain later.
Around the time I was waiting for my friend to pick me up, the power went off and so I had no internet. We drove to hers and the little dog, who I affectionately renamed Lady C, seemed a bit sad that the big suitcases were out. The lovely neighbours popped round and I met them and a few of the regular cat visitors who I would also be feeding and keeping an eye on. While I was saying bye to my friends, Captain Caveman was in a Premier Inn in Sheffield, preparing for an interview. He’d decided to check in there for a couple of nights so that he had no distractions and had somewhere nice and comfy to stay. Meanwhile, Lady C was out on her dog bed, having a snoozy sunbathe while I caught up with some emails. I made the kitchen island in to my temporary desk. Unfortunately, I got a message to say that the flight was delayed and then later that it was cancelled due to a medical emergency on the inbound fight. Luckily, my friends were offered a room in a hotel for the night so Lady C was stuck with me.
I’d only had a cheese spread sandwich for lunch with waiting to see what was happening with flights etc, but, after a very short dog walk, I had chicken and vegetable stir fry with egg noodles for dinner. That evening I started to watch the latest Harlen Coban series ‘Missing You’ and I waited for a video call from Captain Caveman. When we spoke, Captain Caveman seemed optimistic and I was a bit relieved. In between all of that I still managed to do some work and I was tired, looking forward to some much needed sleep, before a busy day tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman having an interview lined up
2. Captain Caveman finding somewhere nice and comfy to stay in Sheffield
3. Watching TV.

I was meant to have been going on a fabulous Princess of Ekincik boat trip on Wednesday 8th January and had done my best to move my working day around, however it was not to be and I had to let The Aussies down. I wasn’t feeling too great and had been up since 5am. I tried to go back to sleep but we had the new Resort Experts Quote tool to test so I started that. When I took Lady C for a walk she was very stubborn, she wouldn’t go in the direction I wanted to and she was really funny and cute. I didn’t do my weight but I did take my measurements and I had stayed the same on my bust, put 1cm on my waist and 2cm on my hips – this was not boding well for Carol’s scales at Fat Club later. I spoke to the dog’s owners and they were eventually heading off on the new flight to Gatwick after a disappointing stay at the Ramada Hotel in Dalaman. I had just an orange, which I picked from the garden, for my breakfast – it tasted delicious. At 2pm I should have been meeting a walking group friend to go to Ortaca. She had arranged for free Turkish lessons if we could get a group of 20 people and now we needed to go to Ortaca with our residency permits to register. I didn’t have the time to break off what I was doing, so I sent her a photo of my ID and she agreed to take it for me.
When I finally got on the scales at Fat Club, I was surprised to find I had lost 0.3kg (0.7lb) which meant I was now 0.5kg under my target. I was very pleased and only having consumed 167 syns this week had really helped. Carol loaned me a Slimming World book which was about how I managed to maintain this healthier weight from now on and I took it home to digest the information. What I had not realised is that once you hit your target weight, you can have extra Healthy A & B options as well as a few more syns, although you are meant to use them for healthier fats rather than crisps. If I’d known that at the beginning, it might have spurred me on a bit faster!!
I had soup, then cheese and crackers with 2 glasses of wine as my little treat and got ready for a busy evening. I had a video call with Captain Caveman who had been to another online meeting/interview and things were progressing on the job front. As he was staying in a hotel, he hadn’t got weighed but he hadn’t been over indulging since he got back, too much. My next appointment was at 8pm when I attended the Resort Experts team meeting and found out we were able to match On the Beach quotes using Classic Collection – this was really good for people looking online at cheap package holidays. The Quote tool was working and we were able to use it for more operators later this week. I finally got sat on the sofa about 10pm and finished watching the rest of ‘Missing You’. It was a late night and I was quite tired so I decided that tomorrow I needed to take it a bit easier.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman having a second interview
2. Losing weight
3. Having the opportunity to test the Resort Experts’ new quote tool.

Dalyan – 6th January

I was a busy bee on Monday 6th January as I had enrolled myself on a free course. It was a 2025 Sales Games Plan Workshop with Enfys Malone, who had been recommended to me by Lisa Johnson, the famous one. I didn’t have any breakfast, just a cup of tea and then had red veg soup and a cheese sandwich for my lunch as I had been busy with work stuff all morning. The online workshop with Enfys was very good and I ended up with quite a few actions to add to my to do list. While I was doing that for a few hours, Captain Caveman was on his way up to Sheffield on a bus in the snow. That evening I had chicken fajitas for dinner and waited for a message or call from Captain Caveman to say he had safely arrived. He forgot to message me but I asked my sister what the weather was like. She hadn’t been out but said the snow was probably just on the pavements and the roads were ok. I busied myself with editing some content and drinking some sage tea. I was really enjoying the benefits of sage tea – it made me feel calmer and my menopause symptoms were far fewer.

Gratitude List
1. The useful free Sales course with Enfys
2. Knowing that Captain Caveman was off to Sheffield, my home town
3. Enjoying my last day of being dog free for a few weeks.

Dalyan – 5th January

There was no official Sunday walk on Sunday 5th January, as Captain Caveman had now left Dalyan and there was no one else willing/available to take on the task of organising one this week. I’d decided I would not always be free as I worked some weekends and I also was a bit of a fair-weather girl who couldn’t read a map. The sun was out and so when I got up and had my cup of tea, I messaged Debbie and Janet to see if they were going on a walk. They said they were up for a short stroll and Debbie let Sezgin and Nur know too so we could meet at the tea gardens at 11am. It turned in to a bit of a Secret Squirrel Sunday walk, quite by chance. We all started off togged up in many layers, as it was a very cold morning despite the sun. We had lost one walker before leaving the Mosque Square and we watched some stand up paddle boarders on the river. One of them fell in, which must have been a bit refreshing for them. By 12.45pm I had taken so many layers off that my bag was full of clothes and I had very hot feet. I was wearing Captain Caveman’s wool socks with my wellies to make them comfier. We went to the tea gardens afterwards and had a hot beverage and a bit of a laugh.

After the walk, I went to the shops to stock up, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Bakery
1 fresh loaf 10.00
1 açma 15.00
Total spent 25.00 lira (57p)

Migros Supermarket
2 red onions 10.72
1 chocolate bar 14.40
Spring onions 34.94
1.2kg carrots 64.84
720g sweet potatoes 71.96
3 Quark 89.95
Spray olive oil 129.95
705g chicken breasts 105.72
912g chicken thighs 184.64
Total spent 707.15 lira (£16.07)

When I got home, Captain Caveman had been busy setting up a Facebook Group and had invited me to be the admin on it. I treated myself to the açma with kaymak and jam for my brunch and made a chicken casserole in the slow cooker for dinner. The weather forecast was looking bad again for next week so I got on with work and then started looking at my own holidays. I had a quick look at costs of package holidays to Marrakech in February and saw one at £229 per person from Gatwick, hand luggage only but staying at a nice place with a pool. Captain Caveman thought this was a bit pricey and I looked at flights which came up at a bargain £35 return from Gatwick. I would still have to add my flights from Turkey to the UK on top of that, though. I went to bed thinking of a weekend in Marrakech and knowing the sales course I was on tomorrow had come at a good time.

Gratitude List
1. The Secret Squirrel Sunday Walk
2. Bargain chicken from Migros
3. Captain Caveman including me in his projects and plans.

Photo credit – some photos by Debbie W

Dalyan – 4th January

My plans to go to the weekly market on Saturday 4th January were thwarted by the cold and rainy weather so I stayed in the warmth and worked instead. Even the velux window in the bathroom was taking a battering as rain water came in a bit. It looked like a terrible leak until I put a Tupperware under the drip and it was nothing. By 10am I had planned all my Resort Experts social media posts from my bed, while drinking a cup of Yorkshire tea. I was missing Captain Caveman getting up early to make me my tea, though. He’d messaged to say he was doing well in London and he was off out for a walk. He was also keen to plan some holidays and mentioned Marrakech and Laos to put on our 2025 list. He suggested us going somewhere in February around Valentine’s Day, as he can’t return to Turkey until his 90 days are up. He was also getting ready for a trip up to Sheffield and had booked the coach for early next week. I suggested he should arrange to see my parents if he got the chance and pick up my bank card from them. Unfortunately, my Mom had accidentally blocked Captain Caveman on Facebook a while ago and he could not message her without her phone number, I’d messaged Ma to say Captain Caveman might get in touch once he got to Sheffield but I had not heard back from her yet.
There was a Team Meeting at 1.30pm where we discussed some really important updates and laughed at how Jamie and I had nearly broken the new quote tool already. I had bread and soup for a late lunch and then did more work. More enquiries were coming in now, but with people wanting to book after pay day. This was good for enquiries but it did mean a bit more work as the prices can change constantly, meaning anything quoted now will have changed on the day of booking. For dinner I had pizza wraps and I heard back from Mom. She had been suffering with a cold and so wouldn’t be available to see Captain Caveman while he was in Sheffield. She said that it wouldn’t work out next week as they had a few things on in January. I was in bed relatively early as I needed to be up early tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman suggesting a holiday/romantic getaway
2. Being part of a helpful work team at Resort Experts
3. Being able to have nice food to eat.

Dalyan – 3rd January

I stayed in bed writing my blog on Friday 3rd January as it was too cold to get out. I put the AC on warm but it took a while to warm up the room. I had Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup), with the rather pricey lettuce in, for breakfast and got on with some work.
At 12.30pm a friend arrived to pick me up as I was going over to her place for a quick cup of tea and a catch up. It was nice to have an hour out and I went to the supermarket afterwards where I picked up a couple of bits. Here’s what I bought, prices in lira;

BIM Supermarket
Frozen sweetcorn 42.50
250g strong cheese 79.50
2 X 1kg basmati rice 110.00
Total spent 232.00 lira (£5.27)

While prices in general had gone up for the new year, basmati rice was on offer so both me and my friend bought a couple of bags as it’s not always in stock.
I had a cheese sandwich for lunch and decided I would have a curry for dinner. In the afternoon Jamie and I had a Resort Experts meeting at mine over a couple of cups of tea and we talked about what was working and what wasn’t. I’d already set my targets for the year and was on a bit of a mission.
I made a Slimming World Mauritian curry with leftover chicken kebab from the prison and almost gave myself food poisoning. When I cut it up, it was still still raw in the middle which may have accounted for why I had a bit of a dodgy tum as soon as I got home after dropping Captain Caveman off at the airport. Still, I had chopped all the ingredients and made the curry base now so I had it anyway. It tasted amazing but it was probably a little foolish. As it was a Friday I also had some wine as a bit of a treat. My stomach wasn’t great afterwards but I wondered if that just meant that the sun’s I’d counted for tonight, would no longer be contributing to my total.

Gratitude List
1. Being able to have a cup of tea with friends and their dog
2. Having Jamie to bounce ideas off
3. Speaking to Captain Caveman who was busy on the job searching front.

Dalyan – 2nd January

On Thursday 2nd January I had a busy and expensive day; Our water bill for last month was 351 lira (£7.98) and that was pretty good considering people had seen a rise in utility prices already. The electric bill was 250 lira (£5.68) for the month and of course was much less than usual as we weren’t home all the time.
I did my measurements and found that I had lost 1cm from my bust and waist, while my hips had stayed the same. On the home scales I was 0.25kg (0.5lb) heavier than my target which wasn’t bad considering how much we had been eating and drinking and that I had not tracked or stayed on plan at all this week.
At the first Fat Club of 2025 I stepped on to Carol’s scales to find that I was 0.25kg (0.5lb) under my target and I was really pleased and relieved. It was good to know that I had finally done it – I had achieved my goal weight of 66kg. In total I had lost 11kg (24.2lb) which is more than the weight of my full rucksack when I take it as hand luggage on a plane. In centimetres I had lost a total of 7cm from my bust, 13cm from my waist and 6cm from my hips and had gone from a size 16/18 to a size 12!Wow, I just needed those ‘before and after’ photos of me stood with a massive pair of trousers, as they do on the Slimming World adverts. What I found out from Carol at group was that once you hit your target, you are allowed some extra Healthy Options as well as a few more syns! I’m sure if I’d known that at the beginning, I’d have done it sooner. The Fat Club had really helped me be accountable, more disciplined and motivated to no longer be fat and I was so pleased to have been able to have the group support. Now, I just had to keep it off but I did decide that I was going to treat myself to something I fancied to eat that wasn’t good for me and that I’d been avoiding since August. I called at a couple of shops on my way home, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
1 Dido Chocolate bar 14.00
Cheese spread 29.90
1 tin chickpeas 29.95
1 pack of egg noodles 33.50
Cashew nuts 74.50
1 small iceberg lettuce 79.95
Mozzarella cheese 89.90
Total spent 351.70 lira (£8)

I did not check on the price of the lettuce as I wanted it for my Pho, but that was an expensive item at £1.82!

Şarküteri
1 pork sausage roll 50.00
3 tins of coconut milk 195.00
Total spent 245.00 lira (£5.57)

I knew the coconut milk would be pricey but it can be hard to get here so I bought the last 3 tins. After eating the sausage roll and not being that impressed with it, I realised I’d finally overcome wanting to eat food that was bad for me, more than I ever thought I would.
For dinner, I made Slimming World style pizzas which were lovely.

Gratitude list:
1. Being able to afford to pay the bills this month
2. Finally hitting my weight target at Fat Club
3. Eating a pork sausage roll as a treat then not being that impressed by it.

Dalyan – 1st January

🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 🎉

How was the first day of the year for you?

I slept in until gone 9am on Wednesday 1st January, New Year’s Day of 2025 and I was glad to wake up hangover free. There was a Sunday Swim at Iztuzu beach at 11am and I had contemplated going. Unfortunately, the bus goes at 12 noon, and when I checked with the organiser, they would have left by then. I could still have gone by myself to the beach and the return bus was at 4.30pm, but I decided to crack on with working on how I was going to improve things this year. I had 3 key areas I needed to look at and they were;
1) Money
2) Healthy eating
3) Planning trips/holidays

My first job was to tackle the budget and I did that by first looking at what Captain Caveman and I had spent in December. We had been pretty frugal during October and November with us both living off an amount that was below the Turkish minimum wage (not including rent or mortgage as Captain Caveman owns the apartment).
As a reminder we had managed on 10,900 lira (£246) in October and 20,134 lira (£455) in November but, of course, I had already stocked up in the previous month with all of the store cupboard essentials, toiletries and wine, so that had made a big difference.
We had been a lot less frugal during December and I was somewhat surprised to see we had spent 32,048 lira (£728). This was still a pretty tight amount for 2 people but it had proved to me that it could be done when needed. Dalyan is certainly not the cheapest place in Turkey to live, as it is a holiday town, however, if I was able to follow a few ‘rules’ it was certainly going to be possible during 2025. This would mean that if I could live on less than 15,000 lira (£340) per month when I had a regular income coming in, then I could start to save up again. I also made a note to write some top tips for saving money in Dalyan. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of my friends spent that (and more) on just Christmas Day alone so we were very lucky to have been able to opt out of that unnecessary expense.
Do you make a note of what you spend each day, week, and month and do you work to a tracked budget as you go? How do you find it? Are you surprised at our spending in Turkey?

My next job was to get myself some fresh juice and a notebook to start to meal plan again. I started a shopping list based on my meal plan which would start tomorrow. There was no weigh in or Fat Club today with it being New Year’s Day and it had been moved to tomorrow.
I had the red vegetable soup, which Captain Caveman had made loads of before he left, with fresh bread for lunch. I decided I would do a word puzzle instead of getting in to watching anything on TV that might distract me from getting on with some holiday searches. They were meant to be for potential customers but, if I’m honest, I was looking at places I fancied myself. I saw so many good deals that it spurred me on to start earning money to fund our future trips. Captain Caveman and I had a video call and he had settled in to his parents’ home in London. For dinner, I made myself a delicious Slimming World chicken and vegetable noodle dish and then had a video call with the family. My parents were going round to my sister’s to have a Sunday (on a Wednesday) Dinner with all of them together. My Mom said that after the overindulgence of Christmas they had all decided they couldn’t face any more alcohol. It was good to speak to them all and they looked like they were all glad that the festivities were over. I was meant to have an early night ready to get stuck in with stuff tomorrow, but I was still in my office at 1am, working out how much discount I could get on a cruise.
I decided to bring back the writing down of 3 things I was grateful for every day before I went to bed – apparently this can really help to keep a positive outlook so if you need to, join in. I’d be happy to know what you’ve been grateful for too.

Gratitude list:
1. Sleeping in and not having to set the alarm
2. Having plenty of free fresh oranges and pink grapefruits growing on the trees around me
3. My new office in the spare room

Dalyan – 31st December

While Captain Caveman completed his packing on Tuesday 31st December (New Year’s Eve), I was in my office finishing some social media posts and scheduling them to go live while I was off for the afternoon. Captain Caveman got weighed for the last time in Dalyan and had put on 0.4kg (0.9lb) so I got on the scales to find I was finally under my target and had lost 0.2kg (0.4lb) which was negligible but, still, I had hit my target by the end of the year – on my home scales! It had been tough and I had made some difficult choices to make sure I tried harder, the cutting down of alcohol was the main thing that had worked and mostly avoiding sugar. I was eating so much more healthy foods and even getting some exercise.
I finished working at 12 noon as we had arranged to have a bit of a jolly with Jamie. As a last lunch for Captain Caveman we decided to go to the prison restaurant which I always enjoy. We even had some last photos together outside, taken by Jamie. The food is reasonably priced as well as tasty and the service excellent, here’s what we had and the total price in lira;

3 cokes
2 sodas
2 chicken kebabs
1 Adana kebab
Total paid 860.00 lira (£19.41)

I paid by card for the 3 of us and it was cheaper than it would have been for the airport taxi! Jamie then dropped Captain Caveman off at the airport and we said a quick goodbye. Captain Caveman was going to England and would be looking to work and live there. He had some interviews and meetings lined up and also needed to decide where he would be based so that he could find somewhere to live.
I would hopefully see him again in 3 months’ time, unless I had a chance to meet him outside of Turkey before then. Jamie and I drove back to Dalyan and chatted about plans for 2025 and how I didn’t really know what was going to happen yet. I did know that I was determined for it to be a better year than 2024. I was back home before Captain Caveman’s flight took off at 4.10pm and I decided I was going to enjoy an evening at home by myself. A friend had messaged to invite me for drinks out but I politely declined as I didn’t fancy waking up on the first day of the New Year with a hangover. Instead, I popped my playlist on YouTube, finished off the open wine and had a bit of a dance in the living room. I was actually still awake at midnight, sipping Sage tea to help with my menopause symptoms, which is unusual as I’m often sick on New Year’s Eve. This year, I put it down to the fact that I had been following the Slimming World plan and trying to be much healthier than previous years. That night, the bed felt empty without Captain Caveman and it was quite chilly when I woke up in the early hours, needing a pee.

For me, 2024 was one of my toughest years in a few ways, even though I was very grateful to still be able to have the life I have. The end of 2024 was a good turning point for me; making some pretty harsh changes to my habits and plans. I learned how to survive on a very low income and find a job that was actually a passion of mine; travel. I freed up time to finally get on and do more writing and complete some of the projects I’d started.

My blog became like my therapy and the best support came from places I hadn’t expected it, even though I’m not sure why. My sister became a voice of reason with her blunt words of wisdom and encouragement to put myself first. Friends who were going through some serious health issues took the time to check on me and spur me on with kind words and just the odd message here and there. Captain Caveman, despite all the moans I write about him, always believed in me and pushed me to do and be better. He stuck to the Slimming World Plan alongside me when he was in Dalyan, so that I wouldn’t be tempted and could be the weight I wanted. He encouraged me to write more and not be put off by negativity from people who did not like my style or content and probably did not have my best interests in mind. He never once doubted that we would be ok and would tell me that, often. I also found out that over 60% of the online support I had got in my new venture was from strangers who liked what I did. This is what motivated me to crack on with my 2025 goals as I knew I could really help people have some amazing holidays. I believed I would be able to make enough of a living to meet the minimum criteria to remain a resident of Turkey, which had risen by around 25% from the 1st of January. With uncertainty around what we would be doing in 2025, I was confident that I needed to get on with it and make it a successful one. My mind was made up, and I was going to do just that!!

Thank you to those of you who encouraged, supported, offered help and just generally were there and had my back when I had to take a back seat from being the life and soul of the party so that I could concentrate on building a better 2025.