I took the morning off on Sunday 23rd March. A few of us had decided to go to the beach as it was looking to be a nice day. We walked along the beach, I had to take my jeans off and have a paddle in the sea. It was cold but not freezing and braver people than me would certainly enjoy a swim in it. We walked back and had a cup of tea where we came up with a plan to have a bit of a trip to İzmir. I said I would invite Captain Caveman and he could perhaps fly in to meet us for the weekend. I walked back home from my friends’ house, passing Jamie and Drew’s villa. Edna was outside and was barking to say hello but I didn’t go in. I had my jeans in my hand still and needed to get back to shower off the sand.
I also needed to get ready for the Sunday dinner that I had invited people to. I’d meant to have made the Yorkshire puddings in advance yesterday, so I was already a stage behind. I only just had enough chairs and the table was a bit of a squeeze, having moved the sofas forward. Along with plenty of Yorkshire puddings, I made roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, and stuffing. Then I opened a bottle of Levissi Gamay red wine which was still going strong, while I waited for my guests to arrive. Everyone brought something that they had made and we had so much food on the table. We had mücver and börek from my turkish friends, veggies and strawberries plus a trifle from my other friends. I almost forgot to make the gravy so one guest got drafted in to help stir. As soon as I sat on the stool (my only spare chair) it cracked and I nearly went through it. I then had to use the folding step stool which I use to reach the top cupboards. The food was well received and everyone was kind about my cooking. I’m not one for catering for large numbers usually but it turned out fine. We had wine and a good laugh – I really enjoyed it
Gratitude List 1. Going to Iztuzu Beach 2. Yorkshire puddings being a success 3. Sunday dinner with friends
I had an incredible day on Sunday 2nd February; Debbie and I were back to safety in numbers on a Sunday get together . Sezgin had invited Debbie, Mike and I for a trip to the beach. I had some work to do in the afternoon so it was perfect timing that I would go to the beach and be back before 5pm, which is 2pm UK time. I got a lift there with Debbie and Mike, who were still laughing at last Sunday’s debacle, so I was determined not to have another incident this week. We met Sezgin & Nur at Iztuzu Beach café where they introduced us to their son, Zen, for the first time. We all took a walk along the beach, it was beautiful and sunny – warm enough for a paddle too. It felt so nice to have the sand and sea between my toes and the breeze in my face.
We took a few photos, all chatted about a variety of subjects and I learned there was an alternative book publishing company to Amazon. Zen told me all about Kobo and how he used that to read books on his phone, without even the need to have a Kindle. All the young people he knew used this but I needed to look into it as I’d never heard of it. We ate lunch at the beach and here’s the prices, in lira;
1 Water 15.00 1 Lemon Soda 30.00 1 Mixed Toastie 125.00 1 Tuna Salad 150.00 1 Chicken sandwich 150.00 Total spent 470.00 (£10.68)
We left the beach all happy to have made the effort to have a Sunday outing and I had a task for Sezgin back at Fire Opal.
Captain Caveman needed his Irata Log book which was in a cupboard above the stairs so, on the way home from the beach, Sezgin and Zen came to help get it down. Captain Caveman had told me where the key was which was to unlock a ladder, attached with a bicycle lock to the outdoor balcony. I was then to place the ladder half way up the stairs to be able to go up it to get one of the boxes out and pass it down to Sezgin. I didn’t want to try it alone in case I fell or hurt myself doing it, but by the time I had got the ladder unsecured, it was obvious that Sezgin was tall enough to not need it. Sezgin thought it hilarious that Captain Caveman thought he needed to secure a ladder to a balcony railing when we are on the second floor. The 2 men got both boxes down and all was good – no incidents, so I was very grateful. It did mean that I needed to take photos to send the contents of the book to Captain Caveman and then would have to take it to him if/when I went to visit. I was still hoping to go to England in a couple of weeks’ time. I went back to Jamie’s and took the dogs out for a walk. In the evening I cracked on with work and was really pleased to be able to organise a family holiday for a good friend. For dinner I had a lentil and chickpea curry and then a cuddle on the sofa with the dogs who had been so well behaved today. Edna had not had as many snuggles as usual but she said she wasn’t going to complain if I could guarantee it was a one off. We had a video call with Captain Caveman who was preparing for his first day of work tomorrow. I was so proud of him and wished him luck, I admired how self-sufficient and confident he is and knew he would do well – his new employers were lucky to have him.
Gratitude List 1. An outing to the beach 2. The ladder fiasco which made us all laugh 3 Being able to help my friend with a surprise family holiday.
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
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.
I had another day ‘in the office’ on Friday 27th December and Captain Caveman helped me turn our spare room in to my new office. We took a table from one of our balconies to the spare room and put it under the window. The room overlooks a new building which was still being worked on but it did have sun coming in through the windows. We used a spare wooden dining room chair but Captain Caveman thought it needed a bit more support on my back. He used a jacket he was leaving in Dalyan to cover the back of the chair and it was super comfy. I cracked on with work, while Captain Caveman went to the barbers for a haircut and shave. He looked like a new man when he got back!! At 12.30pm we walked over to Jamie’s to say hi to Norman and Edna before Jamie, Captain Caveman and I had a trip to Fethiye and Göcek. Edna was excited to see us, as always Norman was not particularly interested. Jamie wanted to take advantage of the wine in Göcek which Janet and Ian had introduced us to, so we went there first to pick up wine. Captain Caveman decided it would be a good investment for him to buy more wine and so we also bought 12 more bottles. This time, we chose our preferred wines and bought 4 each of the Gamay, Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon at 150 lira (£3.40) per bottle so a total of 1,800 lira (£40.82) – an absolute bargain! We also called to collect something in Fethiye then headed back to Dalyan. That evening, Captain Caveman cooked some pasta for dinner and we had more wine!!
I had several plans for Saturday 28th December; get up early to go to the market, work until midday, go to the beach for the afternoon, clean our own house and go shopping. The weather was cold and cloudy and didn’t look like it might stay dry enough for a beach visit today. So instead, Captain Caveman went dogging and I worked, we didn’t bother with the market. As Captain Caveman was leaving in a few days he thought it was pointless to get anything from the market and we could make do this week. I worked through some travel guides for top things to do in Vietnam in Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, Hoi An, Danang, Hue, Ho Chi Minh and Phu Quoc. I was becoming so much more aware of other Travel Agents not promoting Phong Nha in their Vietnam itineraries and trying to shove the whole country in to one short trip – which was too rushed and unreasonable. I absolutely loved my new office views and the skies were very atmospheric. The AC in that spare room certainly made the room very cosy and I thought I might move in to that bedroom when Captain Caveman left, if the nearby building work wasn’t too disruptive. I finished work for a soup and cheese on toast lunch with Captain Caveman then suggested that we go do the shopping. Here’s what we bought, prices in lira:
BIM Supermarket Salt 6.25 Carrots 14.75 2 Dido chocolate bars 27.00 Atom dip 29.50 Aubergine and tahini dip 29.50 Toilet rolls 39.00 Mushrooms 44.75 Fairy washing up liquid 74.75 15 eggs 75.00 Total spent 340.48 (£7.72)
Migros Supermarket Hummus 39.75 Total spent 39.75 (90p)
After unpacking the shopping and putting it away, I suggested we check out a café/bar I had been meaning to visit. O Filo is a lovely little place with a good selection of craft beers so we decided to treat ourselves to a beer each, I also wanted to suss it out for a place to work from if I fancied ‘working from home’ somewhere in Dalyan. It was ideal for that, although I wouldn’t be splashing out on craft beers until the money was rolling in quicker. My honey and pepper beer was really good and Captain Caveman chose a nice Gara Guzu Red Ale. We paid 500 lira (£11.34) for 2 craft beers and that included a discount, but I would definitely recommend it for a really nice place to sit and enjoy a quiet drink. As we were walking back we noticed Penny & Phil were in Tez Bar and so we decided to see if we could join them for a drink. It was lovely to catch up and I got to cuddle their dog, Caramel, too. It cost us just 440 lira (£10) for our 2 drinks each and then we had to leave as we needed to get ready for tonight’s party. We had been invited to The Aussie’s for a BBQ at their villa and we decided to take a bottle of wine to drink. It was a good job I had given myself permission to eat and drink whatever I liked without taking note as I ate so much delicious food. I had lots of bread, köfte, some salad items and I even had Australian fairy bread. If you’ve not had this before it is white sliced bread with butter (in this case Lurpak) and topped with coloured sprinkles (hundreds and thousands, I think we call them?). It started raining but, in true Aussie style, that did not put anyone off and we continued as Captain Caveman went on to gin. Amanda and Greg were so kind to have also brought us some gifts; 3 lots of high factor great quality sun cream, Lurpak butter and some Shapes crackers. It was a great night and we walked home quite merry (again), despite knowing we had to be up early for the Sunday Walk tomorrow.
On the morning of Monday 4th November, we realised we were out of eggs so I popped to Şok Supermarket and bought 15 for 72.50 lira (£1.63) and then went back home for pancakes for breakfast. I’d got some Yorkshire pudding mixture left over from yesterday so it was silly not to eat it up. There was a bit of excitement for a Monday, and I had decided to take myself off on location. My boss and the sales manager at Resort Experts had been advocating it in the last discussions I had had with them, so I asked if a few people fancied meeting me there, my new office for the day. I had decided that I was going to join Captain Caveman, Ian, Janet and Patricia (from the walking crew) and get a lift to the nearest beach. Captain Caveman had been in touch with the İçmeler walking group and they were doing a walk over the hills close to Iztuzu beach so he, Ian and Patricia had decided to join. Janet and I had already said it was beyond our capabilities but we could use our time wisely while waiting for them, at the beach. I don’t often get to work from the beach and I thought it would be really lovely – a bit different to my usual Mondays. My parents were up for it and said they would get the bus down, a couple of friends said they would pop down too, perhaps for lunch at the cafe. After a hot beverage and saying bye to the walking lot, there was initially just Janet and I. We took some photos and chatted and then my parents arrived. Dad went straight in to the sea and was pleasantly surprised that the temperature was still swimmable and fine once you got in. My friends were next to arrive. After a lunch of a chicken sandwich for a bargain 150 lira (£3.37), and it was rather substantial, I decided it was time for a swim in the sea. Dad was right – it was lovely. The time flew by and, before we knew it, my parents had to get the last bus back to Dalyan, my friends had to get back as the dogs weren’t being made too welcome on the beach and had to be left in the car (with a window open). When Captain Caveman and his walking friends returned it was certainly cracking on, timewise. Ian & Janet gave Patricia, Captain Caveman and I a lift back to Dalyan and we all got dropped off near the Waterfall bar.
I had a soda water and Captain Caveman had an Efes while I fought with my wet swimmers in the loo. I didn’t have any wifi but I was due to pop over to Vanessa’s to say bye once I got home. As we were sat there, at the bar at Waterfall, Vanessa and Matt pulled up in a car and by chance we got to say bye. They had been to ours already and left us some goodies on the stairs. Even though they were planning on spending their last evening in Dalyan at home, they had been invited to a BBQ so were off there instead. Captain Caveman was quite tired when he got in so he lolled on the sofa playing Bridge on his phone while I made a chicken and vegetable stir fry with steamed rice for dinner. We were still peckish a bit later so we had bread and olives and some Turkish Delight while watching something on Netflix. I’d loved ‘working’ from the beach today and I felt refreshed.
joloyolo 