Blackburn to Dalyan – 23rd & 24th April

Wednesday 23rd April would ordinarily have been weigh day back in Dalyan so I still did my measurements. I had lost 1cm from my bust, waist and hips, making all my measurements on or below target. I estimated that I had put on about 2lb or 1kg in weight, though. I worked in the morning and was comparing some holiday destinations between 2025 and 2026 with Gold Medal holidays. Captain Caveman was on a work conference call by the time it was time to leave so I let myself out. It would be only a very short time until we were reunited in Turkey.
My train was at 10.48am from Blackburn to Bolton and I was a bit early. There is nothing to do at Blackburn station so I could have left later, but I had a wander and found the cinema and a Nandos. One of the things on my list to do in the UK was to go to the cinema but we hadn’t, so it was on my list for next time, along with a visit to Chatsworth, chip shop fish & chips and an afternoon tea. My train was on time but then it got held up so I had to rush to get my next train in Bolton. The 11.18am train from Bolton to Manchester airport was also delayed so I treated myself to a takeaway cup of tea for £2.45. I arrived at Manchester airport in good time and had a wander through the Duty Free without spending any money. The cost of Dairy Milk chocolates was rather pricey! My flight was at 14.40 and no gate was displayed so I thought I had time to get a meal and a drink at the pub that wasn’t a Wetherspoon’s. It turned out that I didn’t really have time but had already bought it and then had to get it to takeaway as the flight gate got announced and then was boarding straight away. Here’s what I got with prices in pounds;
Chicken sandwich and chips 18.00
1 glass of white wine 9.00
Total spent £27.00.

On the flight I was lucky enough to be sat in the aisle seat of row one and had two rather lovely ladies next to me. Sam and Michelle were travelling with their family, a few rows behind us, and were all from Wigan. I was in good company as I snaffled my now cold chips and chicken sandwich down me and I noticed the girls had those massive water containers. They had made the genius move of popping alcohol in them for the flight! So they looked healthy drinking so much water/juice but were actually getting right on it! Meanwhile, I spent £13.10 on drinks and a snack but we had a really good flight. It was after 9pm when we landed and I just had time to go to the loo, buy a bottle of water for 2 Euros and say farewell to Sam, Michelle and family.
Jamie and Drew arrived not long after from their Gatwick flight and we shared a taxi back to Dalyan, it cost £30 in total so only £10 each. We were all a bit knackered and I couldn’t wait to get in to bed.

Gratitude List
1. Losing centimetres despite eating too many syns this week
2. First row flight buddies, Sam and Michelle, to make the journey more interesting and fun
3. Sharing the taxi journey back with Jamie and Drew.

I was up and about by 7.30am on Thursday 24th April and ready for a full day of work. My to do list was fairly lengthy so I worked methodically down it. I attended a Webinar with Jet2 which was really useful and then I had to nip to the bank and the shops. Here’s what I bought, with prices back in to lira;

Migros Supermarket
Milk 28.50
Cheese spread 34.90
3 Quark 57.00
250g butter 96.50
Total spent 336.51 lira (£6.57)

The exchange rate had been just under 50 lira to the pound when I left Dalyan, 3 weeks ago, but it was at 51.2 lira today. I had cheese on toast for lunch before getting back in to work.
I didn’t finish work until 7pm so I decided to have a takeaway for dinner. I ordered the chicken noodles which are one of my favourite dishes at Simple and cost just 365.00 lira (£7.13). While I waited for it to be prepared I nipped to the shop to get some sweets for tomorrow’s car journey as I was off on a weekend away with friends. Here’s what I bought, prices in lira;

Şok Supermarket
Popcorn 16.75
Haribo jellies 17.00
Boiled sweets 50.00
Total spent 83.75 lira (£1.64)

I’m not a good traveller so I knew I needed to take something to stop me getting car sick. While I ate my fantastic dinner, Captain Caveman was still back in the UK but not for long. He was in the excellent Tribe hotel at Manchester where he would be working from tomorrow. I’d booked it through Resort Experts to try it as a new hotel and it definitely impressed us and is within walking distance of the airport. Captain Caveman had arranged to get a flight to meet me and our friends, not too far from Izmir, late on Friday night!

Gratitude List
1. Being back home
2. Shopping
3. Simple takeaway.

Dalyan to Barnes – 1st April

Where was the time going!? I was finding it hard to believe that it was already Tuesday 1st April and I had so much to do. All with a hangover, too!!!!
I still needed to calculate my budget v actual spending at the end of March, I was behind on my blog posts and I hadn’t even checked how many books I had sold in my first full month of trading! All this and we were off to the prison restaurant for a hello/farewell lunch with Jamie and then to the airport for our 2.30pm flight to Gatwick! I’d had a wonderful message from my friend and colleague, Dagne, yesterday but had not had chance to post it on social media. She had finally got her copy of ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ and was on the beach in Majorca, reading my book. The photo was perfect! I wondered if the British humour would still translate well enough. I needn’t have worried as she was already enjoying it and said she felt like she was getting friendly travel advice from a friend over a glass of wine! Amazing, and that is all I could have wished for! Dagne was also the first person to send me a photo where it was the new version of the book! It was also the first one to be bought in Spain! I think this was the 5th country to have someone reading my book in, and that felt good!
When I checked how many books I had sold it wasn’t as many as I had hoped for but it averaged at over 1 per day. Apparently, that is good for a self published one with zero marketing budget/adverts. Still, it meant I had earned less than £150 for the month, which I would not get until the end of May. I needed to sell more and I needed a smarter way to do that. I was grateful for everyone who had bought it already and I needed a way to get it out to more people, particularly who would benefit from the travel advice. I think using Amazon puts some people off, and I’m not a massive fan of it either, but it’s the biggest seller of books in the world. If I couldn’t cut it using Amazon as a free platform, then it wasn’t wise to pay for a different platform. I was also surprised at how few ebook/kindle versions I had sold as I thought that was a popular way to read books these days. I would persevere and hope more people would buy it in the coming weeks and months. I’d already started a list of chapter titles for the next one.
My next task was to check the money situation; unsurprisingly I had gone over my £300 budget. In March I had spent a grand total of £370 including bills (but not rent or council tax). I was a bit disappointed at going over by 23% but I had splashed out on my hair this month plus some extra treats.
April was going to be tough to set a budget for as I was off to the UK for at least a week and we had a holiday in the İzmir area planned. Captain Caveman was also planning to move out of Sheffield as his 3 months renting in a shared place was up and he had decided to rent a house to himself in a more convenient location for work.
I didn’t eat any breakfast on account of feeling sickly from too much booze last night. I’d had a whole bottle of red wine and one whisky and I really felt it!!! I was doing all I could to not be sick by the time Jamie picked us up. Unfortunately, the storm last night had blown the adjacent new build’s roof off, some of it was on our balcony and some in the garden. We drove to the prison and we ordered food, I just copied what Captain Caveman had, köfte, hoping he’d eat some of mine anyway. As Jamie was kind enough to drive us to the airport I bought the lunch which only came to 985 lira (£20) for 3 meals and 3 soft drinks – impressive.

We drove to the airport and said our farewells to Jamie, it felt weird that I was going back to the UK after almost 9 months and I wasn’t sure when I would be back exactly. At the airport they let us go through to the lounge with our water and Captain Caveman went off to do a reccy in the Duty Free. It works out cheaper to get the small wines or spirit miniatures at the Duty Free shop, than buying in the bar but I had no plans on drinking or eating anything. On the easyJet plane, I had a whole row to myself, Captain Caveman was sat in front of me with just 2 of them in a row of 3. We took off on time and then Captain Caveman came and sat in my row, taking the window seat and I had the aisle. Luckily, I had brought chocolate Dido bars for a snack but we didn’t bother buying any food or drink on the entire journey. We were due to land about 5pm and Captain Caveman managed to get quite a bit of sleep.

We landed in to Gatwick airport on time on and got the train to Barnes. Captain Caveman and I were staying at his parents while they were away. We were walking in to the house just before 6pm, having cost £15.60 using my Wise card to get from Gatwick. I was really excited as I had a package, it was 3 copies of my book. It was the first time I’d touched or seen a copy of it and I was actually quite happy with it. It was small enough to fit in to a handbag which was a good selling point. I took a couple of photos and then we unpacked.

Captain Caveman suggested we have a walk around Barnes, get some dinner and do some shoping ready for us both being back to work tomorrow. Barnes was really beautiful and it wasn’t as cold as I thought it was going to be. Captain Caveman treated us to dinner at Base Face Pizza which was just amazing. I wasn’t going to be drinking but I ended up with a red wine and a pizza with ham and pineapple on. Captain Caveman had beer and a spicy pizza. He paid the bill so I wasn’t sure of the exact total but it came to about £50 for the 2 of us, including a drink each. Tap water was free and I just couldn’t get enough of it – it’s one of the things I miss when I’m not in England. Our food was so delicious, the waitress was really good and I took half of my pizza home as I was trying to be good. We saw the sunset over the river Thames and it was so nice to be in London together.
Our next stop off was at Sainsbury’s where I was gobsmacked at how much chocolate they had. Cadbury’s Cream Eggs were in abundance at 85p each or 5 for £3 but I resisted the urge to buy any chocolate. Here’s what was in our shopping basket (prices in pounds) and doing the self scan, which Captain Caveman was really good at;

Sainsbury’s Supermarket
2 tins Baked Beans 0.80
1 wholemeal loaf 1.39
6 eggs 1.75
Pork sausages 1.79
Fresh tomatoes 2.00
Total spent £7.73

I was shocked at the price of tomatoes and bread but pleased with the baked beans and sausages. We didn’t even watch any TV as we were both tired so we had an early night.

Gratitude List
1. Jamie taking us to the airport
2. Being able to go back to the UK with Captain Caveman
3. A night out with pizza in Barnes.

Dalyan – 30th March

Sunday 30th March was the day that Captain Caveman would be flying from Gatwick to Dalaman just to see me for a couple of days. When we initially booked the flight for £27, we had booked it without hold luggage. Since then, Captain Caveman had added on a case so that he could bring me some items that were cheaper or only available in the UK. He’d started buying the items before we decided that I would also fly back with him on Tuesday. I was up and about early as I was excited for his arrival, even though his flight didn’t leave London until 13:40 UK time. He was due to arrive in to Dalaman at 19:50 and our friend, Debbie, had volunteered to pick him up, taking me with her! The weather wasn’t fit for a Sunday stroll as it was raining and the skies were grey.

I’d arranged to meet my friends at Kefal tea garden at 10.30am as we wanted to discuss arrangements with Sezgin about our surprise BBQ (no longer a BBQ) tomorrow and our trip to İzmir at the end of next month. We were looking to do a cheese and wine trip for a couple of nights and Captain Caveman would fly directly to İzmir to join us. Tomorrow we had decided that Nur would cook a Turkish meal at their home and I just had to get Captain Caveman there as a surprise. Debbie and I agreed I would be at her house for 7.15pm tonight to go to the airport. No one had any breakfast at the tea gardens so I stuck to my 2 hot beverages. It’s still so cheap at the tea gardens, tea is often half the price of a tea elsewhere in Dalyan.

Kefal tea gardens
2 Turkish teas 40.00 lira (81p)

Back home, I ate overnight oats with berries for a late breakfast and decided to ask the AI tool, Chat GPT, about my book. It was hilariously inaccurate and read like it had made it up just from the title. I decided to reply to let ChatGPT know it had got ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ wrong but I didn’t expect an apology. I was impressed with that and decided to use it for marketing purposes in the future.

After doing a bit of work and making cheese pasties for lunch, I popped to the shops. I needed to buy booze to take tomorrow, as well as get some beer for Captain Caveman’s arrival tonight. I already had treats at the ready. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;

Yaman Büfe 2
2 Salt & Vinegar crisps 120.00
1 bottle of white wine 229.00
1 bottle of Rakı 1095.00
Total spent 1444.00 lira (£29.41)

Migros Supermarket
Mints 18.45
2 Quark 70.00
2 Efes Malt 134.00
1 Gluten Free Efes 105.00
Total spent 327.45 lira (£6.67)

Parlak bakery
Bread 15.00 lira (31p)

About an hour after returning home, Captain Caveman messaged to say they hadn’t took off yet. They should have left at 3.40pm (Turkish time) and I was tracking the flight. It said it had taken off at 3.53pm (Turkish time) but would land earlier than scheduled so all was still good, according to the internet. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman reported back that an engineer was coming to fix something and it looked like it could be delayed an hour or 2. Interestingly, the flight tracker showed it had departed on time and was flying over Serbia as Captain Caveman told me they were all getting off the plane and on to a new one. We cancelled the lift to and from the airport as we didn’t know what time Captain Caveman would depart, if at all, and he was still not on a new plane by the time 3 hours had passed. This meant he would now get compensation but wouldn’t land until after midnight. I was more concerned about all the goodies that might be getting a bit warm in that suitcase! I thought about asking someone else or a taxi to pick him up but as it was Bayram that proved tricky. Captain Caveman said he would just get a taxi at the airport. They finally took off on the new plane just before 8pm, Turkish time, I decided to make more cheese pasties so that he had something to eat when he arrived.
At 10pm I sat down with a glass of wine and watched something on Netflix while I waited for Captain Caveman to arrive, which would be around 1am!

Gratitude List
1. Having a Plan B for tomorrow’s cancelled BBQ
2. Slimming World style Cheese pasties
3. Knowing Captain Caveman was finally on his way but could claim £350 compensation for his flight delay.

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.

Dalyan – 5th to 7th September

It was a busy day in my world on Thursday 5th September. My sister and her husband were arriving tomorrow so I had to make sure that my parents’ place was ready for them. I only had a biscuit for breakfast as I had to go to meet the cleaner at my parents’ apartment. There is only 1 key so I said I would meet her back there at noon
I had a morning in Ortaca where I first went to the council office to identify which property I actually lived in on their maps and get an address certificate, then I paid the council tax up to date at a cost of 2426.20 lira (£54.16) to bring everything up to date in order to proceed with my residency renewal application. The next job was to call to see the insurance broker where I got myself a new annual policy for 1,924.20 lira (£42.95) but was very basic cover and probably doesn’t really cover anything but accident and emergency.
Back in Dalyan, I walked over to my parents’ trying to get there in time to pick up the key. It was hot and I hadn’t put any sun-cream on as it was packed. As I arrived at 11.59am I saw the cleaner riding away on her motorbike. I left my bags, including wine and stuff for the fridge, outside the door and walked to King Emlak to retrieve the keys. Once there, I had a bit of a chat with Leanne, picked up the keys and walked back, a sweaty mess.
I stayed there for a glass of water and a pot noodle then had a call with my boss. Things weren’t very good for him as his son was in hospital in Hanoi, and it was quite serious.
I warmed up a mystery defrosted dinner and added some pasta to it for my dinner. Tomorrow I was going to enjoy a leisurely day before my sister and brother-in-law arrived.

It was a long day on Friday 6th September. My sister, Gayle, and her husband, Neil, were going to be arriving at Dalaman airport at 10pm tonight so I was making sure everything was ready for their arrival. My Mom had given them a spare key for the apartment but she wasn’t sure if it worked as it was a newly cut one that had not been tried yet. I had the other key so it had been arranged that I would be at the apartment when they arrived tonight. I started the day with tea and toast while reading the news that a typhoon was about to hit North Vietnam. Captain Cavemen was currently in Sapa but was due to travel to Hanoi very soon. He called me while he was out walking with our friends and didn’t seem unduly worried about the weather at that point. I got on with as much work as I could and tried not to worry about the weather in Vietnam. I just had a cheese and crisp sandwich for lunch. I had a break from work and popped over to check the elusive gardener at Captain Caveman’s apartment, it was impossible to tell if he’d done anything and it still looked uncared for, in my opinion. Then I popped to Captainnet to sort out my parents’ internet and extend it for the month. This cost 675 lira (£15.13) for the top plan, as my Mom would be organising for the TV Firestick to be put on for Neil. I bumped in to Drew who was at Mono & More with Pete & Carol so I stopped for a pot of green tea. It was very hot today and I was all of a fluster so it was nice to sit and have a quick catch up. The tea was really good and only 60 lira (£1.35).
I also called at the bank to transfer the rest of the required amount in to my Turkish account, this then meant that I could get the print out of my account to show the deposits for the last 8 months, including this month. On the way back, I noticed that there was a new clinic in town, next door to Şok supermarket in the old market square, where they displayed information and access to a private ambulance, as well as various cosmetic procedures like mammoplasty, gastric sleeve, hair transplant, liposuction, botox and filling. I said hello to Lou Colson who was working there now, as the receptionist, so she was the first point of contact to book appointments for these sorts of procedures which were very popular in Turkey now.
The rest of the afternoon was spent working and then I went over to my parents’ apartment to make sure everything was ready for the new arrivals. Luckily I had my laptop and something to eat at the ready so that I wasn’t sat about doing nothing. I warmed up a chicken casserole for dinner and opened a bottle of rose wine while I tracked their flight. Unfortunately, they were delayed but when they arrived they were very excited to be in Dalyan. We opened a bottle of fizz that I’d had chilling and Neil had a beer in an iced glass. Gayle is coeliac so I’d got some rice crackers with prawn, pork and spring onion (Banh Ep, from Vietnam) for her to nibble on. It was 1.30am when I got to bed and I was quite tired so I didn’t take long to fall asleep.

When I woke up on Saturday 7th September, I checked the news to see that Hanoi had most certainly been hit by typhoon Yagi and it looked pretty horrendous in parts of the capital city. Captain Caveman was safely in Sapa but was going to head to Hanoi today. I was concerned and said he shouldn’t travel but stay where he was until the storm had passed. He thought it better to get out while he still had the chance. I got on with lots of work and decided, while my boss was caring for his sick son in a typhoon, I would make the most of finding new sales opportunities from Facebook and news articles where Travel Agents were posting about the weather conditions.

I’d mentioned going to the Saturday market with Gayle & Neil but they couldn’t be bothered so I went much later than usual and it was unbearably hot with a full rucksack. I got some bargains, here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;

Saturday Market
Mushrooms, Grapes & 3 peaches 85.00
4 onions 5.00
3 red & 3 green peppers 15.00
Plums 30.00
4 Apples 30.00
16 fresh figs 100.00
Total spent 265.00 lira (£5.94)

On the way back I also called at the shop for other essentials;

BIM Supermarket
1.5l Water 6.50
2 soda water 12.00
3 tins sweetcorn 61.75
Total spent 80.25 lira (£1.80)

I still needed more and had to drop the stuff off then go back to the supermarket. I decided to treat myself to more water and some juice as I was super thirsty. I was surprised to see the difference in the price of a bottle of water between Migros and BIM, though.

Migros Supermarket
1.5l Water 25.25
Croissant 27.95
Milk 28.25
Washing up Liquid 33.95
Cherry and Apple juice 49.95
Total spent 165.35 lira (£3.71)

I had juice and a croissant for breakfast which was not Slimming World friendly and then another cheese sandwich for lunch. I worked for the rest of the afternoon and the AC from the bedroom cooled the dining area enough too.
Captain Caveman arrived during the eye of the storm and managed to get to his hotel unscathed, but the damage in a lot of Hanoi was bad. I had a quiet Saturday night in and had figs, plums and grapes while cooking a really good mushroom risotto for dinner. I had an early night, while Hanoi got hit by the worst storm that they had encountered since 1964.

Photo credit – Vietnam photos taken from various sources/new articles.

Dalyan – 27th & 28th August

It was a bit of an admin day on Tuesday 27th August. I put the rest of the money to make sure I had deposited enough in to my Turkish bank account for residency purposes. I asked the Health insurer for my renewal premium and I had a response from Nationwide about my complaint to the CEO, it was still ongoing. For breakfast I had overnight oats with berries, peach and grapes. Lunch was cheese spread on wholemeal toast and some strawberries. I managed to catch up on some work and not spend any money or drink any alcohol so I was pleased with that.
Dinner was a chicken and chickpea curry with steamed rice although I was missing my rice cooker. Before bed, I totted up my syns and the weekly total was only 102 – under target for the first time in months!!!
I had gone 1 whole week without a drop of alcohol and was very proud of myself. If I had not lost any weight when I got on Carol’s scales tomorrow, I would be very upset.

Before I’d even eaten breakfast on Wednesday 28th August, Captain Caveman was on a video call to me from Victory Road Villas. He was back from Dong Hoi and had a good time catching up with some friends to start saying his goodbyes as he prepared to leave Vietnam. Veronika was there with her husband so I got to speak to her briefly and we hoped we would be catching up somewhere in the world soon.
After the call, I took my measurements and found that I had put 1cm on my bust but I had lost 2cm from both my waist and hips, which was good. I was looking forward to getting to Fat Club at 3pm so that I could check if I had lost the weight I was hoping to have. I checked my emails to find I’d had a reply from the insurance broker who had increased my premium from 1,900 lira (£44) per annum to almost 50,000 lira (£1,163) which was completely ludicrous. I wrote back to challenge it and was told, that is how much I have to pay as a foreigner if I want to keep my policy. I wrote on the To Do list to find another provider which would insure me on continuous terms.
I just had fruit and a Yorkshire tea for breakfast and got on with a couple of hours of work. At 12.30pm friends came to pick me up as we were off to the prison for lunch. The prison is not far from Dalaman airport and has a café, a restaurant and a shop. One of the ladies hadn’t before so it was a bit of a treat but I needed to be back for 2pm, ideally for work, but definitely by 3pm for Fat Club.
I ordered chicken soup, we all had a soft drink as, with it being a Turkish establishment, they didn’t sell alcohol. I wanted to order the half chicken for main as I had to get weighed but they didn’t have any chicken dishes left. I had to opt for a pide but I decided to take most of it away so that I didn’t weigh too heavy. When it came, it was huge and I only managed 3 pieces of it before it was time to go.
Here are the prices, in lira, of some of the items (including mine);

Water 10.00
Soda Water 10.00
Mezes 25.00
Diet coke 30.00
Chicken Soup with bread 50.00
Lahmacun 60.00
Half a chicken 90.00
Pide with sucuk 160.00

My 2 soda waters, soup and a pide came to a very reasonable 230 lira (£5.35) and I paid 250 lira (£5.81) to include a tip. It was already 2.05pm when my pide came so I would be going straight to Fat Club. I had no internet to be able to let anyone know, should I be late. After a browse round the shop where my friend bought a necklace, we were ready for off. It was already 3.45pm as we got to town and I had to rush in to Fat Club, pide in hand. I had made it only 6 minutes before the meeting finished. To my delight I had lost 1.45kg (2.9lb) and I was happy with that. I still had and paid for the 25 lira (58p) water, so not to be cheeky and then went straight home.
That evening, I joined Jamie on the dog walk and we met Ann & Stuart and their family at Ela’s Kitchen. I was determined to continue to not drink alcohol for the rest of the month so I just had a big water for 60 lira (£1.40) which Jamie paid for. The 5-7pm happy hour offers did look good though, for future reference. We found an escaped dog, which the taxi driver owner came to collect, and the grandchildren got a stuffed cat as a gift – that would certainly surprise them when they woke up. Meanwhile in the UK, Oasis (the band) were performing a comeback tour and lots of people I knew on Facebook were about to pay a fortune to see them or be disappointed they couldn’t get tickets.
Back home, I finished off the pide and ended up taking the rest of the sucuk off it, to reduce the amount of syns and so that I didn’t eat as much processed food. I was trying my best to lose the weight I had put back on in England.

Otford & Gatwick airport – 11th August

There was lots of packing activity in the morning of Sunday 11th August and it wasn’t just me! Clare was off to meet her friend in London so was planning to get the mid-morning train. She had very kindly offered to take some of my clothes to alleviate me of the extra 2kg I had in my suitcase. Clare has always been one of those friends that is super reliable and solutions driven when it comes to any issues and she had me sorted right out these last few days. She took the warmer clothes and some PJs so I had some clothes in Rhodes and it was even more of an incentive to join her there on holiday next month. In the end, she took 2.5kg and I was so grateful for the help. Claire and Mark were also packing as they were expecting all 4 kids back this afternoon and were off on a holiday tomorrow morning. What should have been a busy family day, didn’t prevent my hosts being so hospitable and Mark made us a full English breakfast with the right amount of builder’s tea.
After the gorgeous breakfast, Claire and I walked Clare to Otford train station and said our goodbyes, I was desperately hoping that I would make it to Rhodes to see her again. Back home, Bee was the first of the children to arrive back at the house and it was great to see that she had really enjoyed her holiday to Turkey. I hadn’t seen her since she was about 2 years old so she didn’t recognise me. I did some work as I would be travelling later and may not be able to work tomorrow. For lunch we had a bit of a picnic with hummus, carrots, corn, pitta and even a sausage and some chicken. This was my last meal with Claire as we were leaving for the airport in a few hours. The rest of the family returned and went straight to their rooms to chill out, pack and repack for their holiday. I briefly met them to say ‘hi’ and give Bee some ‘borrowed’ face decorations from The Bull to play with Ivy.
I weighed my suitcase and found that it was bang on the 20kg allowance, thanks to Clare and that I had managed to snaffle the Mini Cheddars and a bar of Dairy Milk.
At 4.30pm I said my goodbyes after an amazing week in Otford and Claire drove me to Gatwick airport. I was surprised to see that they charge to drop off there and for a few minutes it was £6. We hugged and I started to get emotional, made worse by the fact we didn’t know when we would see each other again. Before I could cry too much Claire said to get in the airport as if we cried much longer (over 10 minutes) the drop off fee went up to £26 and we didn’t love each other that much! I walked in to the airport, pushing the cumbersome trolley, laughing and crying at the same time.
I was early for my flight but I was glad as the airport was absolutely rammed, mostly with families some of who were quite challenging. Once I’d dropped the suitcase off I went through security and didn’t even have to take out my laptop which was handy. I headed to the Whetherspoon’s pub and ordered using the QR reader app. I spent £20.95 on a mushroom pizza and a glass of rose wine, which wasn’t too bad for an airport. Through to the gate we were delayed and it was very busy but I got in quickly. Interestingly, there were 2 queues and the one for the people with special assistance or lanyards was very long. I was the only one in my queue and went straight through where I found a seat and got a water to use up some of my English change. It cost £2.80 from the machine and was nice and cold.
The queue to get on the plane seemed to take far too long to go down and lots of people were sweating a lot as it was almost 30 degrees at 9pm. We boarded late and I fell asleep on take-off. I was so grateful to have had the past 5 weeks in England with so many friends and family, I almost didn’t want to leave but I had a birthday party in Dalyan to get to!

Dalaman to London – 8th July

I managed to go without buying any food or drink at Dalaman airport in the early hours of Monday 8th July. I absolutely begrudged paying the ridiculous rip-off prices but with a 2 hour delay to the flight and the AC not being particularly cool due to how crowded it was, it was tough going. By the time I got on the plane, I was thirsty so I bought a cup of tea, a water and one of those vegan snack boxes which had hummus, oatcakes, dried mango and chocolate in. I paid on card and got no receipt but later checked to find it had cost me 345.44 lira (£8.22) so was much cheaper than buying at the airport. The flight went ok but of course, we were later than planned and I was meeting Captain Caveman in London. We were meant to have landed at 3am in Gatwick but at 4.20am we were still in the air, although I could see land. When we landed, I had no working phone but managed to log on to the free WiFi. Captain Caveman had tracked the flight so wouldn’t be waiting the extra 2 hours for me in a 24 hour cafe in Farringdon, where we had arranged to meet.
At the airport I was peckish and thirsty again so I went to the shop and here’s what I bought, priced in English pounds;

Marks and Spencer
2 pack of sausage rolls £1.10
1 pack of Salt & Vinegar crisps £1.30
Water £1.65
Total spent £4.05

There were staff stood chatting but not allowed to serve me and I had to scan my own items. This turned out to be a bit of a faff but I did manage to pay with a £50 note, a feat that would prove more and more difficult the further north I went.
I made my way to the train station where I managed to buy a £14.40 one way ticket to Farringdon station. Nowhere would allow cash so I had to pay on my Turkish card.
I followed explicit instructions from Captain Caveman on how to get the 300m to La Forcetta cafe, including the walk with the Pret a Manger on my left. It turned out that there was quite a few Pret a Manger shops on that stretch but I finally found it. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman’s idea of a 24 hour cafe so that I would have somewhere to go on arrival did not have a toilet and I was busting for a wee. I ordered a cup of tea but the breakfasts weren’t ready to order yet and Captain Caveman had much more pressing issues to deal with. He’d hardly welcomed me when he was insisting on inserting my Giffgaff SIM card in to my phone so that I had credit. He had ordered it to come to his mom’s and all I had to do was top it up with £10 credit. The current exchange rate was 41.9 lira to the pound but my £10 top up took 428.84 lira out of my Turkish account. Finally, we ordered the Full English Breakfast and I was so pleased with the buttered white toast. The breakfast came with chips and lots of baked beans, my bacon was too salty so I gave that, along with my eggs and tomatoes, to Captain Caveman. I did wonder if I was doing the right thing eating it when I needed the toilet and I had an appointment for my passport renewal this morning.

There were so many coffee shops in the area and I really needed the loo so badly, I’d not been since on the plane and it was already 8.20am. I had taken the day off work today as I needed to be at the passport office at 11.50am. Captain Caveman felt certain if we headed to a Macdonald’s there would be a toilet but I was concerned there would be a big Monday morning queue and that we would have to buy something to get a code for the toilet door first. MacDonald’s didn’t have a toilet so we nipped in to a nearby Cafe Nero and Captain Caveman got himself a second breakfast of juice and a croissant. I didn’t ask how much it cost but those places aren’t cheap. Our next stop was a walk through Bloomsbury and on to a Wetherspoons where Captain Caveman left me with the bags while he ran errands. I was delighted with a hot beverage refill for only £1.56 a cup and proceeded to have 3 hot chocolates and an earl grey tea plus 2 more toilet visits – bargain. This would not be my first visit to a Wetherspoons and I was rather impressed with this one.
We walked to the train and went a few stops to the passport office at Warehouse K and it has The Fox pub almost next door. I left Captain Caveman having a pint of Guinness while I went for my appointment. The queue to go in was only about 10 minutes and that was the longest part of the whole thing. I was a total of 15 minutes and I had my new passport. I wasn’t impressed that the passports aren’t as firm as the old ones and they feel rather flimsy but, for an outrageous £220, I now had my new extra pages passport and could travel abroad again. I got myself a Guinness which was £6.75 and thought that would equate to about 280 lira if I was in Dalyan.
In the afternoon we went to an Indian restaurant which was rammed full. Captain Caveman got us a tali to share but I could barely eat any of the mains due to the chillies. I ate bread and rice then we left to wander through a strange exhibition with butterflies before getting the train to Barnes.
I got a lovely welcome from Captain Caveman’s parents who I probably hadn’t seen for about 4 or 5 years. They hadn’t changed a bit. It was 3pm and I hadn’t slept since Saturday night so I had a little nap before dinner. Captain Caveman’s Ma made a lovely risotto for dinner and we had a glass or 2 of wine with it. At bedtime I unpacked and Captain Caveman had bought a lightweight down jacket from Uniqlo which he said I could have when he left. London felt extremely cold to me but it probably wasn’t too bad – passengers had been wearing coats and jeans at Barnes station though. The bed was super comfy and I think I fell asleep immediately!

İstanbul to Dalyan – 26th June

My flight from Bangkok to Istanbul on Wednesday 26th June arrived 40 minutes early. I’d purposely not booked an earlier flight in case of delays, so now I had even longer to wait until my flight to Dalaman. Before 5am it was a very chilly 17°C and I was feeling the cold in the airport, even with jeggings and a fleece on. I retrieved my luggage and had a faff about with the trolleys which you have to pay for. My flight wasn’t until 12.15pm and I was feeling a bit jetlagged. I logged in to the free WiFi, which was easy to get at a kiosk using my passport, and let people know I was on track. I’d booked Sonuç to pick me up from the airport and he messaged to check all was as planned.
At the terminal in Istanbul airport, I checked if I could drop off my bags earlier and to my delight it could all be done on the self service machines. I weighed my 2 hold cases which had lost 1kg since Saigon and were now 17kg and 7kg. Due to my tiredness, I completely forgot to take my laptop out of one of them and then proceeded to worry my case would get lost.
My next bit of good luck was when I decided to go to the lounge, which I had booked for 2 hours before my flight. It was before 8am so I explained I was early and they checked to see if there was space on the 09:55 flight. It was already full so they told me I could still enter the lounge until my flight and didn’t seem to care I would be there for 4 hours. There is no alcohol in the Turkish Airlines lounge but it was breakfast time and I was really hungry. I’d been given a spicy dish on the plane which I couldn’t eat and the breakfast meal was omelette which I didn’t eat either.
I got myself cherry juice, Turkish tea, herbal tea, water, croissants, pastries, bagels, cheese and olives and tucked in while using the free WiFi.
The call to board came at 11.40am and the bus was directly from the lounge and half empty. I had chosen an aisle seat and we even got given a chicken sandwich and a water on the 80 minute flight.
I arrived on time in to Dalaman and didn’t have to wait too long for my luggage, where I was glad to see my laptop had made it.
Sonuç was waiting for me and carried the luggage, had water for me in the car and we drove safely to Jamie and Drew’s new villa. I had planned to stay there for a week or so and it was really kind of him as he also had other guests visiting.
I was so hungover that I don’t remember much about that afternoon apart from seeing Norman and Edna, Jamie’s dogs, who seemed to be pleased to see me. The villa was gorgeous and I had a lovely twin room with an ensuite which I couldn’t wait to go to sleep in.
I’d made it just in time for Fat Club but, unfortunately, it was cancelled this week. I had no idea about my weight but I did take my measurements after a much needed shower;
Bust no change,
Waist +1cm,
Hips -1cm.
I had a glass of wine with Jamie, Drew and their house guests, Nick & Mark, before heading over to see my parents, who I hadn’t seen since January. The weather was nice and warm but definitely cooler than Phong Nha.

That evening, we had our first meal together at Duble, one of our favourites. We all had the chicken soup as it’s so good, then I had a chicken shish, Mom had fish and Dad had a chicken casserole. Ma & Pa had beers but I stuck to soda water and we had 2 lots of fresh bread. The whole bill came to 1,720 lira (£41.25) which worked out less than £14 for a starter and a main plus drink and a free shot each. I’d expected prices to be worse given the moaning I’d read on Facebook so I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t a late one as I had work to do tomorrow and I was desperate for sleep.

Phong Nha – 7th May

On Tuesday 7th May Captain Caveman and I decided we needed to get planning some stuff. After one of our usually tasty breakfasts and my Yorkshire tea we sat in a shady area with a breeze and got my diary out. We knew we were booked in at Greenfield Ecostay for another 2 nights but we were already thinking it wasn’t long enough. We had no plans of where we would stay next and I still had no flight out of Vietnam booked. It felt a bit disconcerting not knowing where I would be staying once I left Vietnam, and I couldn’t return to Captain Caveman’s apartment until 1st October. What I did know is that I was joining Captain Caveman on his trip in the UK for his cousin’s wedding in Penrith in July and that I needed a new passport. Our plans revolved around me getting the passport in London on the same day as I arrived. My passport doesn’t actually expire for another 4 years but a lot of South East Asian countries take up a lot of room with visas and stamps so it was very nearly full We decided to look at flights and get booking some things in. We also still didn’t know where Captain Caveman would be working next year so I needed to take as much of my stuff back to Turkey as possible. I booked my flight from Dalaman to London on the 8th July which was €44 (£37.50), hand luggage only, going with easyJet and landing at Gatwick airport at 3am. I would then take the train to Farringdon and walk to an Italian 24 hour cafe where I would meet Captain Caveman at an unspecified time. He would have arrived from Vietnam the day before and would have stayed at his parents’ house in London. We could then get my new passport and stay in London for a few days before going North.
Looking at Captain Caveman’s schedule, it made sense for us to have a short break together in Vietnam at the end of June when he had time off. We decided on Danang where I could then start my journey back to Dalyan from. Captain Caveman’s Son Doong tour finished on the 21st of June and there was a train late that night which would get to Danang early in the morning the next day. This meant we could have the weekend in Danang before Captain Caveman had to be back in Phong Nha the following Tuesday and I would go to Turkey.
It was decided and Captain Caveman booked my flight from Danang on the 25th, stopping briefly in Saigon, Bangkok and Istanbul before I reached Dalyan. I felt happier knowing it was booked and we knew some plans, I was still concerned that I didn’t have a clue where I would be after Captain Caveman came back to Vietnam at the end of July and for all of August. I’d banked on being able to to do house and petsitting in August and most of September in Dalyan but I couldn’t do that any more, due to the new rules there. I also needed to be in Dalyan around the 23rd August which was when I could apply for my Turkish Residency Renewal appointment.
I was about to get in the pool when Chung and Hoan arrived, with fruit and snacks. Hoan brought a watermelon and Chung brought Banh Hoa which is like a doughnut mix in a crispy snack, shaped like a flower and rather moreish. Our friends had a soft drink and a look around the pool area, Chung picked a fruit from the tree near the pool and ate some.
That evening, I got a lift with Captain Caveman to Phong Nha Vegan where I tried the Mushroom Congee. I was not expecting to like what they called mushroom porridge but it was amazing. Captain Caveman had taken himself off to the Indian restaurant, Ganesh, and he brought leftovers back too. Back at the homestay we went to bed early (again) and I fell asleep very quickly.

Dalyan & Istanbul – 7th & 8th March

I was up and about early on Thursday 7th March making sure that I was organised for my departure. The baking paper had been forgotten about yesterday and then I had not had chance to go shopping before Migros closed last night so I went early in the morning. I bought the baking sheets which were on offer for 48.96lira (£1.20) as I needed to get the fruit cake started pretty sharpish so that I could pack it. Back home, I just had fruit for breakfast and a cup of tea before getting my mixture in the slow cooker. After 4.5 hours it was done and I left it to cool before cutting it up.
I’d almost finished my packing and had also packed up our belongings to be stored in the lockable cupboards while we were renting out our apartment. I didn’t go to Zumba as I had too much going on but I did manage beef stew with Yorkshire puddings for a late lunch/early dinner. I attempted to drink some rosé wine which was in the fridge from when Jamie came round but it tasted terrible and I poured it away. I don’t like to consume anything that might make travelling difficult.
Before bed, I made Carol’s Slimming World friendly cheese pasties to take to the airport tomorrow. Dalaman airport is one of the most expensive airports for food and drink so I made plenty. Jamie was giving me and his brother a lift to Dalaman airport in the morning so I shared some pasties and some cake between the 3 of us.
I didn’t end up going to bed very early, I think I was excited to be going back to Vietnam, even though I wasn’t due to see Captain Caveman for another week. I set the alarm for 6am so that I had plenty of time to be ready to leave at 8am. I was flying from Dalaman to Istanbul, then to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) via Bangkok with Thai Airways.

The weather conditions weren’t good on the morning of Friday 8th March and I was half expecting a flight delay. I made a cheese sandwich to have with the rest of my packing up and stored the rest of my belongings away. I bought 1 day of phone credit with data for 91 lira (£2.22) just in case I should need it while still in Turkey. The rain was tipping down and at 7.30am there was a little wobble of an earthquake. Jamie messaged to say he was on his way, 10 minutes early. The drive to the airport was swift and I hated saying goodbye to Jamie as I was going to miss him the most.
My flight was first at 9.50am to Istanbul, Barney was slightly later to Sabiha Gökçen. I had booked the flight for just less than £30 which included 20kg hold luggage, 8kg hand luggage, a booked seat (12C), a sandwich, water and a hot drink. I said bye to Barney and went to the gate ready to board my flight which was on time. I had 5 hours in Istanbul as my flight landed at 11.20am but the next flight wasn’t until 4.30pm. I’d been tempted to book a lounge but I couldn’t justify paying for it when I couldn’t check in at Istanbul until 1.30pm which, by the time I got through security, would leave me with only 2 hours in the lounge. I found a nice spot to sit in the airport where I ate my pasties and some cake. A couple came and sat next to me and gave me a piece of baklava, which was kind.
Captain Caveman had booked my one way ticket with Thai Airways from Istanbul to Saigon for £425, which included seat selection, meals with alcoholic drinks, a 10kg hand luggage and 23kg hold luggage (not that they checked and I was allowed to check-in 2 cases which totalled 24kg). My second flight of the day, Istanbul to Bangkok, took off on time and I was pleased to find myself with a row of 3 seats all to myself. By 5.45pm I had an inflight meal and some red wine, all of which was very nice. I watched some random film with Rebel Wilson in which was a bit rubbish and then watched old episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Thai Airways, for a budget flight, was pretty good so I was pleased Captain Caveman had booked me this one. I was due to land in Bangkok airport at 5.35am tomorrow, which would be 1.35am Turkish time.

Dalyan – 8th January

It was my last full day and night at Bill and Jaxx’s villa on Monday 8th January. On our walks today, Big Boy had decided he wanted to go after a cat and I only just managed to keep him from zooming off. He wouldn’t listen and he got a little telling off for nearly pulling me over. To say sorry he licked me on the nose while I was trying to tell him the rules.
The dogs had sofa snoozes while I drank tea, ate an apple and then some noodles for breakfast. I was meant to be back on the healthy wagon but I indulged in fruit cake and cheese instead of lunch.
The Turkish lira was now over 38 to the pound, the highest it had been and was not good news for the Turks.
At 11.40am Captain Caveman and I had a video call and he seemed to be missing me. He suggested I send him photos for my Vietnamese visa and he would apply for it for me. That way he could pay for it as I didn’t know exactly when I’d get paid. Ordinarily, I would’ve been working today, as I do on Mondays, but it was on hold until after I received my wages, next week.

I fed Big Boy and Lucy early so that I could get the bus in to town for my parents’ farewell evening. I was looking forward to going out for a nice meal and spending some time with Ma & Pa before they went back to the UK, especially as I wouldn’t be seeing them for 6 months. I was still not 100% better and the cough was pretty bad so I wasn’t thrilled that we were meeting at Tez bar at 6pm – I find it too smokey even though I would be sat outside. My parents, understandably, had lots of friends who also wanted to see them off, as well as it being Adam and Kath’s leaving drinks too. The 4 of them were travelling to the airport together and had become firm friends. They had given the ball a right kick last night, getting on the gins after everyone had left – I can no longer keep up with them all. When we got to Tez bar it was very busy so I sat between my mom and Daisy. It was smokey and I nursed my white wine for ages as it was making my cough worse. When my mom went to the toilet, John took her seat so I wasn’t even sat near my parents and would’ve been better off meeting them at the restaurant. After 2 hours at a smokey Tez, I’d had enough, I think Ma and Pa would’ve stayed there if I hadn’t have insisted on us having a farewell meal. I should’ve learned after Captain Caveman’s leaving drinks, that perhaps not everyone wants a farewell meal!

When we got to Simple at 8.15pm, we only had 45 minutes before closing so I hoped it would still be ok. Onur greeted us and was fine about the time and I was relieved because I was famished.
We all had the red pepper and sun-dried tomato soup for starters and it was amazing. It was 100 lira (£2.62) per bowl but well worth it. For mains my parents had the Asian style noodles and I was tempted, but after having the burger last time, I couldn’t resist. They had sold out of the pulled beef burger, with us being so late, but the cheeseburger and fries that I had was still fantastic. The chicken noodles were 180 lira (£4.72), beef noodles 210 lira (£5.51) and my burger was 250 lira (£6.56) which we all agreed was value for money. Simple is not licenced for alcohol so we got a bottle of wine from Nazo’s, next door, which was 450 lira (£11.81) for a decent bottle of chilled white. I thoroughly enjoyed our ‘last supper’ and I was going to miss my parents a lot. They’d had such a great 3 months in Dalyan that I did worry that they would be going back to a more sedate, somewhat boring and more expensive life back in Sheffield.
After Simple, we decided to have a drink in Ozzy’s, the new bar which had replaced 2 Charlie’s. John, Andrea, Daisy and the Aussies were in there and apparently had been shouting us as we walked past but we’d ignored them – I hadn’t noticed.
It was very smokey inside which set my cough off straight away and I had to go outside and use my inhaler. Ma and Pa were fine and stayed inside the smokey bar but I couldn’t go back in. I drank my wine outside but that meant that I wasn’t making the most of being with my parents. Daisy and the Aussies came out to join me and I got updates on the eventful first week of January, which I’d missed from being so ill.
I decided I’d had enough of the smoking inside, and complained to Ozzy, it is illegal here and the bar owner can get fined 9,000 lira (£236.22) per time. He listened and said he would take it onboard.
As I was finishing my drink a drunk woman was becoming annoying to my friends so I messaged Fikri for my taxi, said goodbye and left.

Dalyan – 26th December

It was the day that Josh and Martha had to go home on Tuesday 26th December and I was going to miss them a lot. We had laughed so much this last week and had done some really nice things together; mainly eating and drinking! It had also got me through the depressing fiasco of having not been paid and took my mind off being skint. My Christmas Day this year had been one of the best I’d had abroad and we’d spent less than £120 between the two of us. I wondered how much the average Christmas Day spend had been amongst my friends in the UK!
I cut up an apple and some of the Köyceğiz cheese and fanned it out all posh on a plate so that Martha could have a nibble or two before we had to leave the apartment. Josh was on ‘provisions for the airport’ duty and I helped by giving him spare food. I had my overnight oats with persimmon for breakfast, I was going to have to get back on the Slimming World plan as the weigh in on Wednesday was probably going to be quite enlightening. When Martha had packed she asked me if I would like her hair straighteners, as she was buying new ones when she got home. What a lovely thing to do and it was my first set of hair straighteners in years.
I’m not sure what on earth was going on in Captain Caveman’s head because what happened next was awkward! We’d mentioned previously that we would be getting the bus to Bill and Jaxx’s, who were on the same flight as Josh and Martha. Jaxx had said to get to Villa Infinity, between Marmarlı and Okçular, for about noon and we could go through the final dog requirements and have a wee drink before the taxi came at 1pm. Captain Caveman and I were sharing the dog sitting while they went back to the UK to visit Bill’s mom. I’d mentioned the bus several times, we’d toyed with the idea of getting a taxi but had discounted it as we would have 4 of us, plus bags meaning not enough room for a regular taxi.
We were ready and about to put our shoes on when Captain Caveman said he was cycling and would see us there. I was confused, I didn’t have internet on my phone so I couldn’t call or find it if we got lost and, if there had only been 3 of us we would have ordered a taxi. I was fuming with him, why hadn’t he said this earlier? I knew he’d probably done it to force me to learn how to find my way to places as he hates that I don’t use maps and I get lost easily. It was embarrassing and I could tell that Josh and Martha were doing the looks to say this was one of ‘those moments’. I didn’t even say bye to Captain Caveman as I was so annoyed that he would be so rude and the rest of us went to the bus stop. We got off the bus and Captain Caveman was waiting at the side of the road a bit further up to point out the turning to us. I was even more mad now that he probably thought we couldn’t manage to find it without him. I knew in his head he wanted to make sure he had his bicycle with him because he probably wanted to go Dogging tomorrow, after missing it yesterday – but he could have communicated it. Josh and Martha could see I was mad and couldn’t understand what was going on either, they didn’t even laugh at the situation this time.
Big Boy, the big black dog, and Lucy, the Airedale terrier, were pleased to see us and were friendly. They really liked Martha and tried to encourage her to share her pack-up for at the airport.
Bill took Captain Caveman in to the kitchen to show him how to work the TV, coffee machine and fire, show him what was what with the dogs, etc. I sat outside with Jaxx, Josh and Martha and had a wine.
The taxi arrived and we all said our goodbyes, with plans to visit Josh and Martha in July 2024.
The dogs were a little sad that their parents had gone and I tried to speak to Captain Caveman about what was going on with the bike v bus palaver earlier. He didn’t think he was wrong, obviously, and he got more wine and some pastries out of the kitchen. Bill and Jaxx had told us to help ourself to wine and food but I didn’t want to take advantage, I never do.
Captain Caveman was on fire duty and we both cuddled and stroked Big Boy. Lucy was a bit more free spirited and quite vocal. When it came to the dogs’ dinner time, they wolfed it down and enjoyed it, they also had some home made dog biscuits which looked great. Captain Caveman cooked us some veggie pasta for dinner and we had a cosy night in our new temporary home.
I still totted up my syns for the week and was on 426, 4 times the allowance! I was bound to have put weight on but I’m sure anyone who had said ‘well, it is Christmas’, would be in the same boat.

Dalyan – 29th to 31st October

We had a nice relaxing day on Sunday 29th October. Captain Caveman got his bicycle wheel fixed for 135 lira (£3.96) which he was pleased about. We shared a sausage roll and a cheese & onion roll each for breakfast and both agreed they were lovely. For lunch I had cheese spread and bread but I decided to make a vegetable curry in the slow cooker for dinner. While I was chopping the veg, Captain Caveman got a call from our friend Caroline. We know her from Phong Nha, in Vietnam, she lives in Hoi An now and is Australian but had been in Greece for the last month. Caroline had made loose plans to see us in Rhodes but they never materialised so she would like to come and visit us in Dalyan…. tomorrow! Her flight would land in Dalaman airport at 3pm so it was all systems go to make up the spare bed and get the house clean for our friend’s arrival.
We had the veggie curry with steamed rice which was delicious and, of course, we had some spare. We had a few grapes after and wondered how long a visit to Dalyan Caroline was planning.

I worked from 8am until 5pm on Monday 30th October and this would be my last week of working 16 hours. I’d already done some extra from last week so it meant I’d definitely be finished by Tuesday. I had Yorkshire tea and buttered wholemeal toast for breakfast. Captain Caveman went dogging, he likes to walk the dogs at the dog shelter so sometimes he goes up there to help out. He was back for lunch so we had leftover cauliflower mac and cheese.
As we knew Caroline was arriving this afternoon, we asked the taxi to take her to Lukka bar, where Captain Caveman would go to meet her. I would finish working and then join them.
As I was getting changed to go meet Caroline and Captain Caveman, I saw a post on Facebook reporting a dog that had turned up at someone’s house in Dalyan. It looked similar to Debbie (Darling)’s Brinny but had a different collar on. I messaged Debbie (Darling) who said it was Brinny’s sister, owned by a Turkish man.
I also had a message from Kelly, back in the UK, the girls were hoping to be able to book their holiday to Rhodes for next September and had a few questions. It was a long way off but I hoped I’d be able to join them for a holiday.
I met Caroline and Captain Caveman at Lukka bar, she looked well and was dressed for winter despite the warm weather in Dalyan. We had a beer together and she told us a bit about her trip to Greece and Sweden. We couldn’t sit about as we had a night out to get to so it was back home for curry before heading out to Sofra bar. The Bengisu Boys were playing a gig and they are great musicians so it turned in to a good night. By 10pm both Captain Caveman and I were on the Sofra ‘dancefloor’ giving it what-for! Caroline was too cool for dancing with the ‘olds’ but was testing out the drink menu and being acquainted with our friends.
VLS arrived and I did a karaoke song with her. It was awful and I could see that Şükrü would never let me put in another request! By 11.30pm Brinny’s sister, the escaped dog, had found us and was keeping us company. The walk home, at just gone midnight, involved several stray dogs escorting us home and Caroline tried not to get attached, as she loves dogs.

On Tuesday 31st October Captain Caveman went off to Bridge so that I could work in peace, leaving Caroline with me. I had plans at lunch time to go over to Jamie’s as I was looking after his cute little dogs, Norman and Edna, for a few days. It turned out I’d got confused about the amount of hours I needed to work this week as my boss only wanted me to do 8 per week with immediate affect as from last week, so I’d already worked them. It was going to be incredibly tight for money for the next couple of months so it’s a good job we don’t do Christmas presents or celebrate Christmas out here, in Turkey.
I left Caroline to her own devices following a discussion about the use of psilocybin mushrooms for trauma. I packed a bag and headed over to Jamie’s, taking my lunch with me.
Around 1.15pm I was just getting a nice feta cheese salad ready to eat when Captain Caveman arrived at Jamie’s. He was meant to have been going back home to see Caroline for lunch but shared my salad. I sent him over to look after our guest with instructions to keep in touch while I looked after Norman and Edna. I didn’t see or hear from Captain Caveman or Caroline again that evening so I had a lovely quiet one with a leftover chicken and veggie curry. I obviously stayed over at Jamie’s and the pooches wanted to come upstairs to bed with me. I told them they had to sleep in their own bed downstairs and gave them a kiss. I didn’t have any alcohol, it was Fat Club tomorrow and I was only on 273 syns for the week. The Fat Club meeting tomorrow had a taster session that we all had to take something for so I’d brought over my ingredients to make something in the morning.

Dalyan – 27th August

I was awake on Sunday 27th August before Captain Caveman landed in Dalaman, on time, at 7.55am. I checked the weather forecast and it looked to be a bit cooler than what he’s used to in Vietnam but still quite warm and dry. He was only going to be here for a week and then he had a Europe and UK trip planned, so he hoped to make the most of being back in Dalyan just for a short time. The most important thing was for me to sort out all the necessary paperwork so that I would be able renew my residency. Hopefully, I would have everything he needed to sign, completed before we left for another trip to Rhodes.
Captain Caveman arrived but, as he gets paid in Vietnamese Dong, he had no Turkish money. I went out to pay Fikri, the taxi fare of 850 lira (£25) while he brought in all his luggage. I was excited to see him but by 10am I was even happier – he’d managed to get me some Yorkshire teabags! His friend, Damo, had purchased a box from Cornwall, took it to Saigon to handover to Captain Caveman and then he’d brought it over to Dalyan! Unfortunately, there had still been no 2024 diaries anywhere on his journey so I would have to wait until he went back to England.
I’d waited to have my breakfast with Captain Caveman but he’d eaten already so I had fresh figs, banana, strawberries and quark with a nice cup of Yorkshire tea. I drank quite a bit of cucumber infused water in the hope of my eczema clearing up but it still looked quite bad.

By 2pm I was sending a copy of Captain Caveman’s tapu (deeds) and his tax code to Sonuç for my residency renewal file. At 3pm we decided to head over for a cheeky snifter at Tez bar before we went to meet Clare and Kelly at Lukka bar. Tez wasn’t there but his wife, Rabia, was feeding Bailey the new kitten so we had to get a photo. Of course, with Captain Caveman having been in Vietnam for 9 months I’d decided to book us in for a traditional meal as his first one.

All 4 of us were booked in for a Sunday lunch at Lukka where they do amazing Yorkshire puddings. We had pre-ordered the meat choices; Captain Caveman was having lamb and the 3 of us were having beef. The lamb dinner was 495 lira (£14.77), 400 lira (£11.94) for the beef dinner and that included apple pie and ice-cream. Captain Caveman had a couple of Efes beers which were 85 lira (£2.54) each. My glass of rosé wine was 98 lira (£2.98) but I didn’t order a second one as I wasn’t keen on the Buzbağ rosé. We shared a large bottle of water which was 45 lira (£1.34) as we needed to keep hydrated.
The food and service were good and I really enjoyed what I managed to eat, a little less than half of my meal went in to Tupperware for another day as it was huge. I even took my apple pie home as I was trying to be good. It’s not the cheapest place in town, we’d paid 1,248 lira (£37.25) for Captain Caveman and my Sunday lunch with drinks, but we had full tummies and enjoyed it. Clare and Kelly both said it would have cost more than that where they live in England so it was a nice treat, for a bit of a change.

Just after eating our meal, I got sad news that a friend, John, had died. He was the guy I met when I volunteered to push him round the Dalyan 5k Race in a wheelchair. He was quite a character and a lovely fella so I was rather sad. We decided to pop to Bistro Blue for a bit of a drink and I was in a bit of a daze for Clare’s farewell drinks. I managed a pint of draft Efes, Captain Caveman had another Efes Malt, Clare a gin & tonic and Kelly an English Garden cocktail.
On the second round I just had half and everyone else had the same as before. Here’s what we paid for the drinks:

1 litre of water 75.00
330ml draft Efes 75.00
500ml draft Efes 90.00
500ml Efes Malt 90.00
Gin & Tonic 130.00
English Garden cocktail 330.00

Our total bill for 4 of us came to 1,415 lira (£42.24) but the cocktails are probably the same as you’d pay in the UK. Back home, I was back on the cucumber water, while Captain Caveman had a gin and tonic and I made him a mini pizza wrap in the airfryer. While I was happy that Captain Caveman was back, I was sad that Clare and Kelly were leaving tomorrow.