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.
On Saturday 1st February I had made plans for breakfast out and a trip to the weekly market. I felt like February was going to be a good month and better than January, however, I still had the stress of making sure I deposited the equivalent of about £760 per month for my residency. So now February was going to be Frugal February and I was taking no risks of not getting my renewal as this time I was allowed to apply for a 2 year one. I set my monthly budget to twice that of January but I hoped to come in under £400 for the 28 days. This would equate to less than 630 lira per day. After a trip to the bank, I went to meet friends at Ela’s Kitchen. There was a new Breakfast Club which I had been really wanting to go to and I decided I would treat myself – it had been so long since I’d eaten any pork products and I still do miss bacon and sausage. The last time I had it was in August so I was definitely up for a Full English Breakfast today, for brunch. When I arrived, I ordered the large set breakfast but without egg or tomatoes. Nicola, the co owner, made sure I got extra bacon to compensate, which is always good of her, and I had Yorkshire tea. It was so lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite knowing it was not likely to be good for my Fat Club results. I paid 560 lira (£12.73) which included the large breakfast, a tea and a tip, which I thought was good value.
At my trip to the market I bought the following;
Stall 1 Red & Green Peppers + Spinach 70 lira (£1.59)
Stall 2 Mushrooms 40 lira (91p)
Stall 3 10 eggs 60 lira (£1.36)
Total spent 170 lira (£3.86)
The market had changed now so that all the stalls were under newly constructed cover. The market looked more organised although it took me a while to find my usual stall holders and I got confused. I also hadn’t took my list with me so I had to guess what was on it. In the afternoon I did a bit of work, followed up some quotes and then did a dog walk before dinner of curry and rice. I had a late night, finishing some work tasks, as I was taking tomorrow morning off for a trip out.
Gratitude List 1. Having a higher budget (£400 for February) 2. Breakfast Club at Ela’s Kitchen 3. A visit to the weekly market.
Here’s 15 things I did in January to help get through a long month on a very low budget:
1. I set a budget and divided it in to the 31 days of the month. In my case it was just less than 300 lira (£6.80) per day. 2. I introduced several planned ‘zero spend’ days in to my week where I would not shop or even nip out for a cup of tea. 3. When I knew I expected to spend more than 300 lira in a day, I would not spend anything the day before and/or after to keep within budget. 4. I limited buying any convenience foods like jars of sauce or English products, unless they were on offer. 5. I did meal plans for breakfast, lunch and dinner for every day of the week so that I didn’t spend on eating out. 6. I batch cooked soups and stews and froze at least half of everything I made, to eat later in the month. 7. I bought only fruit and vegetables that were in season at the market or supermarket, making sure to avoid the more expensive ready chopped ones and picked oranges, lemons and pink grapefruit from trees in the garden. 8. I did not throw any produce away which meant making sure I used up everything I had before it went past it’s best. 9. I only bought meat (generally chicken) when it was at a reduced price and bulked out with lentils if using mince. 10. I made 2 lists of things I might spend money on, dividing in to ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ – this really helped to focus on the priorities over the nice to haves. 11. If I went out to eat, I chose something I couldn’t make at home and took any leftovers home and I always checked the menu prices. 12. I drastically reduced the amount of alcohol I drank, specifically staying away from the bars – I’m not someone who can easily drink water or just go for one! 13. I drank tea at the tea gardens where it is very cheap to drink local cay. 14. I walked instead of going to exercise classes or a gym that I couldn’t afford. 15. I limited the amount of cash I had on me so that I wouldn’t be tempted to buy things spontaneously – if I needed it, I would go back to purchase it.
There were other things I did and I’m sure you will be able to add more ideas – feel free to let me know!
I was up early on Friday 31st January and I was slightly relieved to see the end of the January sales for holidays. I had tea and toast for breakfast and worked on quotes in the morning. I popped to the bakery in the afternoon for some bread which was still 10 lira (23p) for a loaf but rumour had it, it would increase by 50% tomorrow. For lunch I had some of Captain Caveman’s veggie soup with bread and in the afternoon I was able to concentrate on finding a holiday for a close friend who was looking for a family holiday in the Canaries. That evening I had a chicken and veg pasta with some wine and watched some rubbish on TV. I also decided to tot up my spending for January as I wanted to check if I could afford to treat myself this weekend. Amazingly, I had managed to survive January on just £104! I was so proud that I had spent just over half of my £200 budget that I almost cried. I had paid the bills and my credit card off too so I was really happy. Tomorrow, I would meet my friends for breakfast and be able to afford to splash out at the market. Now that I had proved to myself I could survive on very little, I decided I needed to really build up my savings so that I could afford some of those luxuries that others would call essentials; I still hadn’t been to the hairdressers since the beginning of June and it showed! Next month looked to be easier and I was looking forward to quite a good month.
Gratitude List 1. Being under budget and debt free on the last day of January 2. Getting busier with Resort Experts 3. Looking forward to a busy February.
On Wednesday 29th January I took my measurements to find that I had lost 1 cm off my bust and waist, plus 2cm from my hips – this was good news as I had consumed 269 syns this week (41 more than last week). I was sure I would have put weight on at Fat Club later so was a bit apprehensive. After tea and toast for breakfast, I left the pool man and a workman drilling away and I was off out and about. At Fire Opal, someone had put a hosepipe leading out from inside the pool to empty the water on to the street and it was pouring out towards the river. I called at the bank as it was nearing the end of the month and I needed to get the rest of my money, with the new increase from January, in to my Turkish account. Turkish class wasn’t on today as my teacher, Sioned, was in Egypt with Jamie so I went back to Jamie’s. Nanny Kay popped round for a cup of tea and a chat. I didn’t have time for lunch as I needed to crack on with day 3 of Charlie Day’s Challenge so I stuffed down a Dido chocolate bar. I was about to get ready to leave for Fat Club when I read a really brave and sad post on Facebook from a friend and ex work colleague who had bad news. His cancer had spread aggressively with no signs of slowing down and he said there was no further treatment available. Over the last few months I had followed the posts and hoped he would beat it and, even though I had not seen this guy in years, I was really upset for him and his family. He always writes so well and I found myself crying over his words as tears blurred my reading. I walked to Fat Club having a bit of perspective that I really needed to get on with life and not be stressing about insignificant worries. At Fat Club I had stayed the same weight, which was a miracle. I went back to Jamie’s, walked the dogs and then made Yorkshire puddings. I ate one but had chicken and veg noodles for dinner and popped the rest in the fridge. I didn’t feel like drinking the wine I had brought over so, instead, I made a list of all the things I wanted to achieve this year and re set my goals and targets. The Team Meeting that evening got moved to tomorrow which freed my night up and I decided to learn a bit more about Amazon KDP, even though it seemed a bit too complicated to me.
Gratitude List 1. Not putting weight on this week 2. Being healthy 3. More free sales training with Charlie Day
On Thursday 30th January I was feeling the pressure I had put on myself during what is ordinarily one of the peak times for UK holiday makers to be booking holidays. I had just 2 days left in the month to sell holidays with departures in the next 6 weeks to be able to hit my ‘self invented’ February money target and it wasn’t looking likely. I had been dealing with a few ongoing enquiries and had sent out lots of quotes but for holidays later in the year rather than for a winter sun holiday in March. It did mean that things were definitely looking more promising for the second half of 2025. This didn’t help me in the short term but I was determined not to quit and knew it was going to take time to build up my customer base. I’d had a couple of people tell me it was pointless as people prefer to book direct these days, and then one proceeded to tell me about a monumental cockup on their last holiday which could have been avoided if they had booked through a Travel Agent, like me. I decided to not let it get me down and keep plodding on, building my customer base and looking at all options I could to earn some money. My budget for January was so small and I knew I couldn’t survive on the same again for next month so I really needed to get on it. Remarkably when I set myself a £200 limit for January, I didn’t actually think I would be able to stick to that but it was a goal and I needed to see how disciplined I could be. I had Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) for breakfast, despite missing a few ingredients and had a quick pancake for lunch before our team meeting. Today our boss told us about a new company we were going to be working with to be able to provide great group bookings for Stag and Hen parties. This was great news as a few of the mainstream operators and hotels are not always happy to take groups like this. We had a really good meeting and there were the usual issues that we all faced which was good to discuss as a team. That afternoon I was busy with work and was meant to meet a friend for a cup of tea but had to cancel. I’d had to cancel a lot of stuff like that lately as I needed to focus on me and work. I managed a dog walk but Norman had been unwell after snaffling some cat food when I wasn’t quick enough to stop him. For dinner I had roast chicken with Yorkshire puddings and it was lovely. That evening I joined a Charlie Day free Masterclass which was really great and focused on follow ups and tracking but it meant I was still up at midnight.
Gratitude List 1. Pho for breakfast 2. Pancakes 3. Having good people around me at work.
On Monday 27th January I was looking after Norman and Edna while Jamie and Drew jetted off for some winter sun with friends. Jamie picked me up while it was practically still dark and the dogs were still a bit snoozy when I arrived. After a quick run through any changes to Norman and Edna’s requirements over a cup of tea, they were off. I had another cup of tea and some buttered toast for breakfast and felt a bit woolly headed as I got on with some work. At 12.30pm I joined a free sales mastermind with Charlie Day from The Sales Agency, which was interesting and gave me a few things to think about. Jamie had left me a cottage pie for dinner but I ate half of it for lunch, it was really tasty. The rest I put in the freezer for later in the week and hoped I wouldn’t forget about it. I worked some more and then took the dogs on a walk around Gulpinar. For dinner I had a chicken dinner followed by a Dido chocolate bar, which I had forgot I had bought for Debbie and Mike yesterday, but had left them in the fridge. Thankfully, today was a relatively tame day compared to yesterday but I really did ache after my ordeal on Shits Creek.
Gratitude List 1. Norman and Edna – they always cheer me up 2. Having a desk and a chair to use 3. Cottage pie from Jamie
I woke up just before 8am on Tuesday 28th January and had tea and toast with cheese spread on for breakfast. I got on with work and found myself looking at some Japan itineraries which I fancied for myself. I did love Japan and would definitely visit again. I made some banana, oat, and peanut butter ‘cake’ for breakfasts/snacks before moving on to group tours in India in the afternoon. I had some of the ‘cake’ for lunch with oranges from a tree at Fire Opal and then got ready for my second day on the Charlie Day Challenge. In the afternoon I got a message from Ben, from Victory Road Villas in Phong Nha, my old boss and friend. One of the ladies from the Dalyan Ladies Night boat trips and the Sunday Walk was touring Vietnam with her husband, by bicycle, and was at Victory Road Villas enjoying a cold drink and some food. They were having an amazing trip, it was great to hear from them and get a couple of photos from Ben with the three of them on. I recommended that they call at Phong Nha Vegan and asked if they would be around there until the weekend to meet up with a couple of my friends who could show them around a bit, but they weren’t in town too long, just enough to rest those legs before cycling further south. I had a break from work to take Norman and Edna on a walk which they loved. Dinner was left over chicken dinner from yesterday and I did a bit more work before bed. It was that time of the month when lots of people were hoping they could book a holiday on pay day and get a good deal for later in the year. It was also hard to tell the difference between genuine customers and people who were bored at work and wanted to waste a bit of time looking for a holiday they only dreamed of going on. I got a message from a complete stranger in the afternoon who was interested in hearing more about me and my new book, after being on the Sales Course this week – that was nice. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was still doing well, he had been in the UK for 4 weeks now and was adjusting better than I would have been.
Gratitude List 1. Free Sales Training with Charlie Day, which was really good 2. An update from friends in Phong Nha 3. Seeing that Captain Caveman was happy in my home town, Sheffield.
I had just one dog free day on Sunday 26th January and so, when I woke up, I felt like I should make the most of it. I’d already booked for Sunday lunch in the afternoon with friends but Debbie and I decided we would go for an impromptu Sunday Walk. Today would turn out to be quite the day and neither of us expected what happened to happen!!! It was cold so I put my footless tights on and borrowed Captain Caveman’s nice merino wool socks, they were rather thick but I planned on wearing my wellies due to the amount of rain we had yesterday. I couldn’t decide which jeans to put on so I dragged some jeggings, which were a bit big for me, out of the charity bag I had been filling up. I set off in the rain but I had my small rucksack and an umbrella so all was fine. It did stop raining once Debbie and I got started and we got quite far before the ‘incident’ occurred.
We were walking on the flat on a lane, not too far from Eskiköy, when we came to a bit of a blockage in the path. It was filled with puddles, on the left was a drop to a flowing stream and on the right was a recently ploughed farmer’s field. On our path in front of us were the dirty puddles and Debbie had trainers on. I was wearing much more appropriate footwear; yellow wellies and Captain Caveman’s socks so it made perfect sense for me to offer to test out how deep the puddles were. I suggested Debbie wait while I walked forward to test the depth and I found that the middle of the slippy lane was ankle deep. Debbie really didn’t want to get her feet wet and looked like she may take a chance on walking on the left, too near to the stream for my liking. I said not to, as I didn’t want to have to rescue her if she fell in – it was quite a drop. I mentioned that maybe we could go to the right and risk walking via the farmer’s field which had quite a bit of manure in it but was flat. What happened next was a bit of a blur as I stepped just a couple of steps to my right (if only it was as easy as doing the Timewarp) and ended up in a predicament. My right foot sank very quickly into cold, soft, smelly shit. As my left foot followed suit, I had 2 things pop in to my head, simultaneously. Practical advice from one of my former senior school teachers that was actually about not staying still if ever I was to get stuck in quicksand and to not put my hands down. So, I started to try to move my legs backwards to stop them sinking further as the manure pile was very deep and similar consistency to quick sand. I was quickly sinking further, it was so cold and wet and smelly. Then came the realisation I was not going to be able to get myself out. If you’ve ever seen the TV show ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ where Dawn French goes in to a puddle, it was not dissimilar. Debbie meanwhile, admitted her first thought was to get the camera out but she soon decided against it when she saw the sheer panic in my eyes, I told her I couldn’t move and that she would have to help drag me out. To give credit to Debbie, after the initial laughing, she did effectively manage to drag me out of the shit, without me pulling her in. I was in a mess, a bit shaken and I stunk of shit!! When I looked down I had been almost fanny deep in soaking wet cold manure and now my jeggings were covered and my wellies were full of shit! Debbie was crying with laughter as she got her phone out for a photo and was clearly disappointed not to have actually got one of me ‘in the shit’, literally.
A little way down the road, from what we would later rename ‘Shits Creek’ was a house so we decided we would go there to ask for help to wash the manure off. The farmers were stood outside looking towards us – potentially feeling bad for filling and blocking the arık (small drainage canal) with their big pile of poo. As we walked, and I worried about the squelchy shit-saturated socks I’d borrowed from Captain Caveman’s drawer without permission, I realised how lucky that my phone in my back pocket was still safe. Debbie called Mike to come and rescue us but didn’t actually tell him what happened, just to bring the car, wet wipes, bin liners and an old blanket/towel because we needed rescuing. As we approached the farmer, I saw that he had a water pump in his garden and I moved towards it, he and his wife/sister (it was hard to tell) gestured for me to get back. They hosed me down next to the stream with a powerful hose of cold (but not freezing) water. By this time a bit of shock and hysteria had set in and I was quite happy to just attempt to walk home without taking the wellies off. The shitty socks had swelled and the wellies were suctioned on as I tried to remove them, just to wash my smelly feet. The farmer was overly keen to help and proceeded to use brute force to get them off, not knowing that there was a vacuum created. My bad ankle didn’t half take some twisting and he finally yanked off the wellie while I held on to Debbie. Now that Debbie knew I would live, she was no longer holding back the laughter and we both had tears rolling down our cheeks after saying bye and a reluctant thanks to our ‘helpers’, who had more than likely dumped the manure in the arık in the first place.
Mike arrived and had assumed there was some shit involved but all 3 of us were laughing so much at me getting in such a shit situation just to prevent Debbie from getting wet feet. The bin liners weren’t big enough for me to fit in to so we tied one round each foot and I sat on another in the back seat of their car. We drove with the windows down and they dropped me off at home where I am lucky to always have hot water on. Although our Sunday stroll had been cut short I still needed to get cleaned up for the afternoon antics and pop to the shops. I said my farewell and thanks to Debbie and Mike and walked in to our complex, pondering the logistics of getting my shitty stuff off before I went in to the apartment. I sat on the bench having pulled down my dirty and wet jeggings but leaving my footless tights on. I was about to take off my wellies and socks when a workman from next door looked over and was met with what I can only assume looked like a woman having a toilet break in her own garden. By this time I didn’t care and I just wanted to not be able to smell shit. I put the wellies and socks on the steps, in one of the bin liners and the jeggings in another, destined for the bin on my way back out. That shower was probably one of the best and longest I’ve ever had – I still had manure on my knees and in between my toes which took several washes to get it off!
Jamie had said they would meet me in Sofra bar, if I wanted to meet there before the Sunday lunch. However, I was pushing it to get there on time and was paranoid that I still smelled of manure. Due to being an eczema sufferer in the past I use only natural products so I wasn’t convinced that they had eliminated the stench. I threw out the shitty jeggings but everything else went in the wash, including my ‘dinlo’ Oxalis rain jacket which may not survive. I’d invited Debbie and Mike round for a drink tonight and wanted to get a few nibbles in from the shop too. I nipped to Migros and here’s what I bought, prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket 2 plastic bags 1.00 (I had none left at home)! Plain Crisps 27.00 Plain hummus 39.75 3 x Dido chocolate bars 40.50 Tomato hummus 42.50 Crinkle crisps 44.95 Dates 81.95 Haydari 92.50 Soft cheese 105.50 1.5kg chicken 107.37 Mozarella cheese 137.90 Total spent 720.92 lira (£16.38)
I popped the shopping away and kept the bags in my rucksack, just in case! I then went to meet the others in Sofra where there were a few Dalyan Dwellers. On arrival, I asked Drew if he could smell shit and he couldn’t, so that was good! I wasn’t going to drink but after my ordeal and the fact that my leg and ankle ached, I took the white wine that Melanie didn’t want. I didn’t have time to drink it before we had to go for our Sunday lunch so I left it.
I had booked a table for the 5 of us at River House for 2pm and we were met by Orhan. It was the first time I had met the new waiter and I was a little taken aback that he kissed my hand then offered us a table outside. We all preferred a table indoors so he went to sort that out while we chatted to some of the Dalyan Dwellers who were sat outside and had finished their first course already. One of them told us that they had been coming to River House for their Sunday meal a few times and that we should ask for extra roast potatoes. I thought it a bit odd but went inside to be seated with Jamie, Drew, Melanie and Nanny Kay. I decided to have the beef, in fact everyone but Nanny Kay had beef, and she had the chicken. Drew and I shared a bottle of red wine that we didn’t think to ask the price of but the beef dinner was 650 lira (£14.77) and the chicken 550 lira (£12.50), including apple pie and custard. I ordered mine without mashed potato but they forgot so I gave mine to Nanny Kay and I should’ve remembered to ask for the gravy on the side as I’m not really a fan. We got a shared starter with bread and the wine was good, Orhan had insisted he give us some to try first as Jamie preferred white. The food was nice but the chicken dinner was better value and it was definitely diet friendly as the portion size wasn’t massive. I certainly didn’t need a Tupperware for any spare. None of us did ask for extra vegetables but we probably should have – there’s something odd about getting your main course, though, and then having to ask for more of it! The food was nice but I much prefer their Turkish food. When the bill came, Orhan explained he had given us discount on the wine, which was kind of him. My share came to a total of 1,200 lira (£27.27) for half a bottle of red wine, my 2 course dinner and a tip. It was great to go out with friends for another celebration, and River House is a nice place with good toilets. I’d definitely go again but I think I’d stick to their traditional Turkish dinners next time – they do an amazing İskender kebab.
After dinner, we went back to Sofra bar where the bar man presented me with my leftover wine from earlier, which he’d saved in the fridge, and I’d forgotten about. I had to put soda water in it to get it down, though, as I’m not a massive drinker these days. Once it started to get chilly, I said my goodbyes and decided to walk the scenic route home, prior to Debbie and Mike popping round for drinks that evening. Every now and then this morning’s manure fiasco came back in to my head and I started to laugh. Debbie and Mike arrived with homemade marmalade and a lovely bottle of wine which we shared and it was definitely not a 150 lira bottle. I did a few nibbles including a selection of cheese and crackers, soft cheese stuffed dates drizzled with honey and a few ‘bought from the shop’ dips with crisps and carrot sticks. Debbie and I could not stop laughing as we retold the ordeal in much detail to Mike, yet again. I’d messaged Captain Caveman to say we would call him as he could not believe how I had possibly managed to come a cropper in the way I did – he knew that path well. We had a video call with him so that Debbie could fill him in as to how I ended up thigh deep in a shit filled arık! Oh how we laughed, while he shook his head in disbelief. I’m sure he was more concerned about his manure-covered merino wool socks that had already been through the wash twice, than me. I drank a few glasses of wine to ease the still throbbing ankle and aching leg and my face ached from all the laughing by the time my guests left. I didn’t go to bed until late but I set my alarm for an early start tomorrow. Dalyan might be a sleepy little town in winter but there’s hardly a dull moment!
Gratitude List 1. Being rescued from a shitty situation and traumatic experience 2. Spending time with friends over a Sunday lunch 3. So much laughter with Debbie and Mike over Manure-gate!
Saturday 25th January was my last day with Lady C as her owners were arriving back late tonight. I had planned to go to the market but the weather wasn’t looking too good. Luckily, I managed to get Lady C out for a walk with Chico and back in before it started lashing it down. I had the same again for breakfast and I was definitely finding it kept me fuller for a bit longer. I noticed when I opened my diary to check flight time that the internet was due to expire today. Unfortunately, it’s a pain that we can only pay per month, with proof of residency, now so I had to venture out in the rain. For 2025 the prices had, of course, increased so I was prepared to be parting with more cash. When I got there I was soaking wet, despite the umbrella, and my tariff had gone from 400 lira (£9.09) to 550 lira (£12.50) per month. It was still much cheaper than the UK but a 38% increase here is a lot. My next job was to call at the shops as I was already out in the rain, anyway. Here’s the prices and also what I spent at the supermarket, in lira;
Pharmacy 2 boxes of Cerazette Total spent 658.36 lira (£14.96)
I got ready for Lady C’s owners returning and gave her a brush to make sure she looked smart, then I had pizza and wine for dinner while I waited for their arrival. Lady C was excited to see them and her owners were so glad to be back. The rain was still heavy so I called Fikri, the taxi driver, and little Lady C tried to jump in to the taxi with me – another dog friend happy with my services! It was nearing midnight by the time I got to bed so I was really tired and looking forward to a bit of a lay in tomorrow.
Gratitude List 1. Lady C being off the lead but walking with me and following commands 2. Pizza and wine 3. A happy dog.
There was another breakthrough with Lady C on the morning of Friday 24th January, she actually came to the bin with me and walked the opposite direction to what she would usually want to go. The big cockerel wasn’t there so she wasn’t scared. I decided to attempt to list my book on Amazon again and reset my password but then it sent me a code again to a phone number I didn’t have. I decided I would look in to other options as I wasn’t an Amazon fan anyway. After my new breakfast option, which was just as good cold, I cracked on with work so that I could perhaps finish early. I was pleased for Captain Caveman that he was going to the cinema and London today, and I wished I was joining him. The last time I went to the cinema was probably to see the Barbie film in Fethiye ages ago. At home, I noticed that the building next door, which had been demolished and rebuilt, had a concrete roof on but no metal reinforcement in. This either meant that they were not replacing the second floor or that the next floor they added would not be earthquake proof. It was apparent from speaking to some locals that the authorities were cracking down on illegal builds and structures that didn’t comply with the rules. For dinner I had made a lentil bolognese in the slow cooker which I had with some of my recently purchased Gamay wine after a nice dog walk.
Gratitude List 1. Lady C coming to the bin with me 2. Finishing work early on a Friday 3. Slow cookers and wine.
On Thursday 23rd January, after the morning dog walk, I decided to try out a new breakfast idea. I put 2 bananas in a bowl and mashed them up, added milk, oats and peanut butter before putting it in to a silicon baking tray and cooking it in the air fryer for about 30 minutes. It was very nice with my cup of tea and I had 2 pieces – the rest would go in the fridge and could be eaten cold. It made 8 pieces at probably a couple of syns each, so would be a filling breakfast. I worked all day and it was getting busier with enquiries as we got towards the January pay day. Lady C wouldn’t go on her bed at first, because it had been outside where the cats sleep so I turned it over and moved it in to the sun – she liked that and had a sunbathe. I had a very late lunch of the bulgur wheat burgers and onion dip from yesterday’s Taster Session party and they reheated well in the air fryer – I saved the recipe for future reference. Captain Caveman was in Mexborough this morning, meeting his new manager so I was looking forward to talking to him later to find out when he would start the job and how things had gone. In the afternoon I took a break from work to follow up on some actions from Monday’s networking session. On the second walk of the day, Lady C managed to walk a whole 4 blocks and even continued past her own house and gate to walk for one more block. I was so proud of her for finally learning that. In the evening Captain Caveman called with an update, all had gone well with his Mexborough meeting and he had a start date of 3rd February, his first few days would be in Scotland. I had curry and rice for dinner and continued watching some rubbish on the TV while searching for holidays for potential customers.
Gratitude List 1. A successful new breakfast dish 2. Lady C finally managing to do the walk I had wanted for her 2 weeks ago 3. Captain Caveman’s job updates.
Weigh day and Fat Club comes round so quickly and on Wednesday 22nd January I knew my actions from yesterday were going to have an impact. I didn’t bother getting weighed at home, I decided to leave it to Carol’s scales later and we had something a little different planned for today’s session. One of the ladies had agreed to hold a Taster Session party at her house and we all planned to take a dish and share it, along with some wine. I had tea and toast in the morning and took Lady C on a longer walk so that she would sleep all afternoon. It was remarkably sunny, despite the weather forecast saying it should’ve been bouncing down with rain, so I popped to the shops. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
I also worked all morning and up until just before 3pm so that I could take the rest of the day off, but I still had the team meeting tonight to get back for. I roasted some chickpeas in the air fryer and packed up some rice and my rice cooker to take to Debbie’s, who was hosting.
At the Taster Session we all got weighed first and I had, unsurprisingly, put on 0.3kg (0.7lb), meaning that I was just over my target weight now. We had so much syn free or low syn food with wine and we all had such a laugh. It was great to have this support group to keep us all on track or just be there when we fell off the plan, as was so easy to do while living in a holiday town like Dalyan. We had a really nice butternut squash soup from Sarah & Rob, which we all agreed was a firm favourite. The bulgur wheat & sweet potato burgers with an onion dip were fantastic. Debbie had even added some air fryer chips and roasted veggies. One of my favourites from a previous taster session were the cheese pasties which Carol had made and I couldn’t resist having a few of those. I loved Tina’s lentil curry which went well with my steamed rice and some couscous. My two helpings of the dahl went down so well that I forgot to get a photo of it but it always tastes better than it looks anyway. I drank red wine, Debbie also surprised us with a bottle of fizz to cheers the occasion and it was really lovely. But the most surprising dish of the afternoon came from Brigette who had turned fruit and mini meringues in to a masterpiece by stirring some Salted Caramel flavoured Options in to Quark to make the ultimate diet dessert! It was a game changer! While we were busy enjoying ourselves, there was a storm and it rained heavily but by the time Debbie had packed me up with leftover veggie burgers and dip it had stopped.
Luckily, Lady C was now a master of sploshing and she was very happy to get ankle deep in all the puddles, I sploshed along with her as I had my wellies on! That evening, I didn’t have or need any dinner and I was busy with our Resort Experts team meeting. The meeting went well but there was definitely something that I related to well. As is the nature of the business we were seeing quite a few time wasters from potential customers who were asking for quotes from multiple sources and then booking direct anyway. This was likely to happen but it was definitely increasing and we even had people asking 2 of the team for different countries but with the same names and dates. We were encouraged to share our business page with family and friends and ask them to like, follow and share, which I had been doing. I was finding I had more commitment from complete strangers and I wasn’t sure why. I was trying not to compare myself to others but I was still struggling to get family and friends to even like or follow my business page. Some of my team members had over 1,000 followers already and I was stuck at less than 250 and most of them were people I didn’t know. I had 1,700 friends on Facebook but not that many were following me. Naively I had thought at least 50% of my Facebook friends would be on board but it turned out to be less than 10%. So, if you are reading this and haven’t already, please can you like and follow my Jo Lo – Resort Experts Facebook page!? I’d be very grateful and I will most certainly have sent you an invite to it that you may have missed or ignored if you had more important things going on at the time. It really does help build up my business if I get more followers and it also allows access to other useful functions once I get over 500 followers. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567498001133
Thanks to all of you that have liked and followed already, or even popped a comment on – I really appreciate it and know I really can help more people find great holidays and accommodation. I’ve seen so many that I want to go to myself but I’m being sensible for now! I spoke to Captain Caveman before bed and he had a meeting tomorrow with his new manager so I didn’t bother him with my ‘first world’ problems. He was doing well and had plans to go to the cinema in Sheffield this weekend and then was off back down to London for a few days to see his parents.
Gratitude List 1. The Fat Club Taster Session party 2. Having the support of the Fat Club ladies to keep me going 3. Speaking to Captain Caveman who was adapting to England very well.
Debbie and Mike had invited me to join them for a trip out on Tuesday 21st January. The plan was to drive over to Göcek to the wine shop so that we could all take advantage of the reasonably priced wine before it went up in price. I had just 1 slice of wholemeal toast with cheese spread and a cup of tea for breakfast before walking Lady C. The drive to Göcek was smooth and we were in the Levissi Wine House by 11.30am. I was impressed that I had remembered where it was as Debbie had parked on a main road where I hadn’t got my bearings. The lady at the shop recognised me and we chatted about coming all the way from Dalyan for the lovely wine. She said that we could still buy the stock she had left at the same price but it would be going up and stocks were running low. The stocks of Merlot had depleted quite fast but there were still stocks of the Makri brand as well as the Levissi Cabernet Sauvignon, the Gamay (a favourite of ours) and the Petit Verdot. There was still lots of rosé and white but the 3 of us only wanted to get red this time. I decided on 12 bottles of the Gamay which, at still only 150 lira (£3.41), was a great spend of 1,800 lira (£41) for a case of 12. I’m sure that a couple of nights out on the town drinking wine in the Dalyan bars would come to that so I was pleased. I was well versed with borrowing the trolley from nearby Carrefour supermarket, as instructed previously on our first visit with Ian and Janet. I was still very grateful for their recommendation of Levissi Wine House as it meant that we had saved a lot of money on our wine purchases in the last few months. Steering the trolley was funny and, while Debbie went to bring the car nearer, Mike and I tried our best to not injure anyone, or ourselves, with a wayward trolley. As we were so quick stocking up on the wine, we decided to have a little wander in Göcek and we even did the tourist thing of standing on a bridge and getting photos for the Instagram. A couple of young ladies were there doing it and so we just had to join in! Göcek has a lovely port and the sun was shining so after a stroll we returned to a fancy café/restaurant on the harbour front for a beverage. West Café & Bistro was a popular place and the staff were very efficient when us ‘oldies’ didn’t want to use the QR code menus and brought actual ones for us. We weren’t eating but I did take a photo of the menu and noticed a soup was 210 lira (£4.77), pizzas started at 330 lira (£7.50) and a chicken kebab main was 570 lira (£12.95). The place was spotlessly clean and had good toilets so I thought the prices reflected the quality of the place. Debbie and Mike shared a cafetière of coffee and I really enjoyed my large Turkish tea. The tea was 75 lira (£1.70) which is very expensive for Turkish prices, however, it did come very well presented and with a biscuit. We all commented how lovely it was to sit there and enjoy our drinks in the sunshine on such a glorious day. I also thought it would be a great place to come with friends and family when they are over to visit. What we didn’t notice until we were leaving was that they had a cake counter so next time that might be one to try for a treat.
We decided, as we were on a budget, that we would stick to our plan and eat lunch at Dalaman prison café on the way back. As it was my weigh day tomorrow I was planning on eating healthily but ended up throwing caution to the wind by ordering the köfte which came with bread, chips and onion rings. It was absolutely delicious and our total bill for the 3 of us, with drinks too, came to just 730 lira (£16.60). Less than £6 each for a substantial lunch was more my kind of eatery and the service at the prison is also excellent. As we left the café, it started to rain so it looked like we had timed our jaunt well, and I’m so glad I had decided to go. When we got back to Dalyan, I got the wine in to the cupboards so that I wouldn’t be tempted to drink any tonight, my 4th consecutive alcohol free evening. Lady C and I went out for a walk early as the heavy rain was coming and Chico had been waiting patiently to join us. We also bumped in to a friend who lives round the corner and said hello to her 2 dogs and then another stray joined us on the rest of the walk. There was sploshing aplenty for Lady C and she was soaked when we got back home. She slept while I cracked on with some work and then we had a bit of fun doing the biscuit trick again. We watched repeats of ‘Celebrity Coach Trip’ on TV, the one with Paul Danan on, from ages ago. By bed time I was very tired and really looking forward to a good sleep.
Gratitude List 1. Having some time off to go to Göcek 2. Enjoying a prison lunch 3. Lady C being really well behaved and meeting other dogs.
Photo credit – the photos of me in Göcek taken by Debbie
I was up extra early on Monday 20th January so that I could get organised as today was a busy day. My Mom needed some help which involved popping to the bank so I had moved my work schedule around to accommodate her as it was urgent. I usually avoid banks on a Monday morning as they are busy and always a queue but we didn’t think there was a choice at that point. I had my tea and toast then took Lady C out for a walk. I scheduled posts to go live while I was away from my laptop and then walked to the bank. It was very busy and it turned out a lot of the expats were there for the same reason. A text had been sent out to a lot of bank account holders to say that they must come to the bank with their ID before the 1st February and it had then caused a bit of a concern. Some account holders were, obviously, out of the country and not due to return until later in the year so had been allowed to send an email of their passports over. The woman bank teller who I saw said this was not possible, I tried to give her my parents’ ID which I had on my phone but she insisted she would need their signature too and it would be fine to wait until after their return. It just meant that after February they wouldn’t be able to make any transfers from their Turkish bank accounts. It had been a complete waste of time and they could have put that on the message to save themselves all that bother but at least my parents needn’t be concerned. For some reason, I had changed my passport and renewed my residency recently but they didn’t want my ID! This obviously then lead to people posting about it on various Facebook groups with misinformation going around. I rushed back to let out Lady C and had to eat my lunch of soup and a cheese sandwich while on a Networking video call with Enfys Malone. It was a very interesting experience and it was enlightening to see how many people were purely there to offload all their issues! There were some really interesting people on the call though and it was the first time I had been able to speak to like-minded business people and also other authors, which was great. I shared the title of my book and it was well received – it got a few laughs even. For the rest of the afternoon I was playing catch up and had a few enquiries for holidays in Egypt and The Canaries. For dinner I had curry with egg rice and even got to speak to Captain Caveman who was keeping busy and had secured a deal on a place to rent for the next 3 months in Sheffield, where he would be based. It felt like he had been away for longer than just 3 weeks but he was looking forward to starting his new job in 2 weeks’ time. He needed me to find his log book out of storage which we thought was in the over stairs cupboard. I would get some help to reach it with the ladder and take it with me when I visited the UK next month. The flights were really cheap if I could squeeze it in. I worked really late that night as I needed to get quotes out and I had already made a decision to take quite a few hours off tomorrow for an exciting trip out of Dalyan!
Gratitude List 1. Sorting Ma & Pa out with the bank thing, so they didn’t have to worry 2. Speaking to Captain Caveman who seemed to be doing well 3. Joining my first online networking event.
After a couple of exciting nights out this week, it was time to take it steady on Saturday 18th January. After a dog walk and beans on toast with a cup of tea for breakfast, I decided to do something similar to last week. I had just a bit of editing and the summary of my ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle…’ book to finish off so I decided to crack on with it. Unfortunately, Amazon seemed to think I already had an account so I couldn’t log in to attempt to upload the book! It also kept sending codes to a phone number that I didn’t have and was annoying. I had more cake for lunch as I didn’t have any time to make something and then I did quite a long walk with Lady C and Chico. Back home, I had a chicken and chickpea curry with steamed rice and then taught Lady C a new trick. She wasn’t keen on the biscuits in her bowl so I was trying to encourage her to eat 5 before she was allowed a piece of chicken sausage as a treat. I lined the biscuits up on the step but she wouldn’t take them. I lined them up on the carpet but then she decided she wanted to get her own biscuits from the bowl. After some perseverance she managed it and was so excited to get the treat.
Gratitude List 1. Seeing Lady C and Chico getting along on the walk 2. Lady C learning the biscuit trick 3. Having enough discipline to not quit, when Amazon tipped me over the edge (for the first time).
I was meant to be going on a walk on Sunday 19th January and I hadn’t thought I would need to set an alarm! Unfortunately, I woke up 15 minutes before I would need to be setting off and hadn’t had chance to walk Lady C. I messaged to cancel and said I would head to the Kaunos tea gardens for after they got back so that I could catch up with the Secret Squirrel Sunday walkers. After a dog walk, I had orange and pink grapefruit, tea and toast. I got invited to an online networking event for free which Lisa Johnson, a famous online business strategist, had recommended, so I signed up to do that tomorrow. I did make it in time to meet the walkers and was surprised to see so many police at and around the tea gardens but I wasn’t sure what for. On the way back I went to the bank and then the shop, here is what I bought with prices in lira;
When I got back, I sat down with a cup of tea and a Dido chocolate bar while catching up on some admin. It was lovely and sunny out, so I took Lady C out for an early walk and decided to try her off the lead for a short stretch just to see what she would do. She surprised me and was quite good. That evening I got invited round to Jamie and Drew’s where we finished off the roast chicken dinner from Wednesday (it had been frozen) but we decided to do it without any boozing. Edna was not impressed that I was on water and she had a little sulk. When I got home I did a bit of work before bed as I had an important errand to run tomorrow morning.
Gratitude List 1. Having an unplanned lay in on a Sunday 2. Having tea with the Secret Squirrel Sunday Walkers 3. An impromptu dinner with Jamie, Drew, Norman and Edna.
Photo credit – some of the Sunday walk from Debbie
On Friday 17th January I had to knuckle down and make up for being a bit slack yesterday and I was on a mission. I had my early morning 2 cups of tea while waiting for Lady C to wake up so we could go for a walk. She was a bit reluctant but we managed it and she seemed to be getting a bit keener to go the way I wanted and to walk for longer. I had a disagreement with a bloke on Facebook who didn’t like a holiday I’d posted and was challenging the photos which I had shared from an easyJet booking at the Binlik hotel. I was only round the corner from the Binlik Hotel and decided to go take my own photos. When I got there the builders were there but the man let me have a look and was happy for me to take photos. It looked like they were doing a good job actually and I was pleased I’d been to check. For brunch, mainly as I had forgotten to eat breakfast, I decided I wanted to have beans on toast. I was so happy to have found them the other day at the shop next to Waterfall bar for only 57.50 lira (£1.31) and I wish I’d bought more as they are almost double that price in Migros and they don’t always have them in. I also had another piece of birthday cake for afters but then I got on with more work as I had big plans for tonight – I was actually going out out!!! After completing all my work and doing all my Friday Follow ups, I decided to finish at 3.30pm so that I could go to buy a frying pan from a woman selling lots of new kitchenware (as you do). As luck would have it she had some cute dogs which I also got to pet a little. I also had to nip to the shop, walk and feed the dog, get a shower and get ready for a night out with friends – more belated birthday celebrations! At the shop I just popped to Migros for wholemeal bread and some chickpeas which cost a total of 80.90 lira (£1.84). On the evening walk Lady C was getting a bit confident with Chico, who had taken to joining us on most walks, and was definitely listening to my commands more. I really liked her but she definitely needed far more exercise and a diet. I said this to her and she just looked at me with eyes that said she wasn’t the one polishing off birthday cake instead of a proper meal.
I arrived at Duble restaurant just before 7pm and was warmly greeted by the owner, Ibo. It is one of my favourite places to eat in Dalyan as I think the food and drink is reasonably priced, it’s clean, has a great selection of food but most of all I really like the owner and his wife. It’s located in the old market square and is only small but Ibo has done a lot with it since opening. There’s always a good mix of nationalities and many Turkish friends go there to eat. It just so happened that Debbie and Mike also really like Duble and had chosen it for tonight’s belated birthday celebration. When we arrived there was someone smoking but Ibo asked them to stop and the rest of the evening was smoke free. We decided to choose mezes to share and went to the counter to have a look at the substantial selection. It was a hard choice but we opted for red cabbage, haydari (garlic yoghurt with herbs), mushrooms and something none of us had tried before; sea beans. We ordered a bottle of red wine and some water, we got plenty of warm fresh bread to accompany the mezes which were so fresh and delicious. Surprisingly, the sea beans were fantastic; like samphire but better! They tasted a little bit like artichoke in brine but with the texture of some shrubbery. Ibo had recommended them to us so I think he was pleased we liked them. He knows I’m fussy! After wine, chat, laughs and trying to pronounce the Turkish for sea beans (deniz fasulyesi) we decided we had better order some mains. I was in two minds whether to try the chicken dish with a sauce which Debbie ordered or copy Mike on my usual choice of chicken shish. Having had quite a lot to eat with the mezes and bread already, I decided that I would order the liver as it is one of the best dishes that Duble does, in my opinion. It comes on a skillet with red onion sprinkled with herbs and sumac. For some reason we got a bit giddy and also ordered chips to share, not realising chips would come with the other mains. I had asked Captain Caveman if it was ok to share the news of him getting a new job in the UK and he said it was now official and I could tell Debbie and Mike. They were really pleased for him and we all did a cheers, sending him the photo of us all.
After the excellent meal, we all decided it would be a nice change to go and see the live band which is on each week at Nil Lounge. Debbie and Mike had not been before and I hadn’t been in quite a while so we were up for it. At Nil Lounge it was fairly busy for a Friday night in winter but we managed to find a seat almost opposite the ‘stage’. We had a good view of the lead guitarist as he morphed himself in to a Jimmi Hendrix impersonator and contorted his face up like he was either aroused or needed a poo! I don’t think Debbie, Mike and I had laughed so much but then Jimmi came over to our table, thrusting and fingering his guitar from behind his head, like something possessed. I got dragged up on to the ‘dancefloor’ by Sue who was in her element and having such a good time! It was so funny and we did have an amazing night. The band was great and the female vocalist had such a great repertoire of songs. Although Nil Lounge is not the cheapest place to drink, it was still just less than £20 for a bottle of decent red wine so definitely worth it if you don’t mind a free grind from the guitarist as he strummed in front of you and generally showed off. It’s worth going just to see the show he puts on!
Gratitude List 1. Beans on Toast as a treat 2. Buying a decent frying pan 3. A fantastic birthday night out with great friends and celebrating Captain Caveman’s new job too.
joloyolo 