Dalyan – 1st May

Friday 1st May started early as I had been fannying about with stuff yesterday which meant I was a bit behind on tasks for this week. I decided to set my May budget at £550, this would be an increase to £15 per day for the first 2 weeks, then an increase to £20 per day for the rest of the month. Now that my parents were here I hoped to invite them over and go out with them more this month so that’s why I increased it from today. I also was looking forward to doing more with the family once my sister and brother-in-law arrived, mid-May. I also still had the envelope of English money from Captain Caveman to cover the boat trips.
I had a chat with a friend who was getting ready for her family holiday away and finished off lots of half started chores before getting on with lots of work admin and phone calls.
Vanessa and Matt had organised a Dalyan pub crawl from 3pm with their daughter and her friends and had invited all the usual Dalyan Dwellers who often go. They had also organised a boat trip for tomorrow which most of us were going on and I was taking the day off, properly! This did mean that I couldn’t make the pub crawl this afternoon and still hadn’t spent the time with Vanessa and her family. Instead of going out, and because our last meeting on Wednesday got unexpectedly cut short, I messaged my parents to see if they were going on the pub crawl. They had decided not to, on account of not having too much to drink before tomorrow’s boat trip and I felt the same. I suggested they come round to mine and we could have a bottle of wine and order some food in or I could cook. They agreed and said they would be over at 7.30pm, plenty of time for me to get finished in the office.

At 6pm I nipped to the off licence to get wine as I no longer keep it in the house regularly. I bought a bottle of white, a bottle of red and a share pack of salt and vinegar crisps. The white was my usual brand Kilitbahir at 300 lira (£5) which I knew Mom would like as we’d had it before, but they had completely sold out of the red version. I decided to go with Tigris as it’s less harsh than some of the cheaper ones they had and would be good for Dad. It was a bit of a treat at 530 lira (£8.33) and the crisps were 60 lira (£1).

Ma & Pa were ready early so messaged to ask to come earlier and that was great because I was starting to get peckish. I only quickly had time to hoover and then I was ready. They arrived with a bottle of red and a bottle of white which was very kind. We all agreed we were taking it steady on the booze tonight, though, as we didn’t want to ruin a birthday boat trip tomorrow. We are all a bit fussy with food so I had decided not to cook and to treat us to a takeaway pizza from Heybe’s. I’d really enjoyed it last time and thought my parents might like to try it. We decided on a pizza each so we could all choose our own toppings; tuna and onion for Ma, a mixed one without pepperoni or mushrooms for Pa and a Hawaiian for me. It took some deciding as the pizza menu at Heybe has lots of choice, plus you can choose a create your own. They also have the 2 for 1 deal on all pizzas so it made sense to throw in a margherita for us to share. I paid just 900 lira (£15) including a small tip and the guy who delivered it was the man who served me in Yaman Büfe 2 earlier, which caught us both off guard a bit. The pizzas now come in a Heybe branded bag with a QR code on which gives you the menu and phone number – great idea.

When the pizzas came, I topped up the wine and got the scissors out. My parents thought I was a bit odd as they wondered why I was using scissors! The pizza wasn’t fully cut and if I used a knife the box would get cut and I didn’t own a pizza cutter wheelie utensil. I’ve used scissors on pizzas for a while now and it’s so much easier (does anyone else do this – tell me it’s not just me being weird?).

We had a lovely night and it wasn’t too late when my parents went home, taking some leftover pizza home – the rest went in my fridge.
Today I had gone over the new £15 per day budget by almost double but we had a very nice evening and I still had wine in, because of my parents bringing some which meant we had it for the next time.

Gratitude List

1. Looking forward to a busy month with some time spent with my family

2. Wine and pizza night with Ma & Pa

3. Leftover pizza and wine!!! (Gosh, it’s a thing!)

Dalyan – 30th April

I woke up early on Thursday 30th April and started to look at the Uniqlo website. Captain Caveman had suggested I preorder some more clothes for my June trips and he would pay for them and get them delivered to his home in Sheffield. All my flights had been booked with just an under seat bag and no checked in luggage so I would need to pack very wisely. Captain Caveman and I thought it was doable and I wasn’t about to add luggage on to 6 flights at my own expense. It would be a challenge but I would do it.
I spent quite a bit of time rearranging plans.
We had a Resort Experts team meeting at lunch time and my afternoon flew by.
I had a zero spend day today and totted up to see I had spent £331.72 in April against a budget of £300 (£10 per day). I was pleased with that as that included the boat trip, meals and drinks out too. I was pleased to have managed to only spend £332 in April and it was definitely becoming a bit more second nature to question everything I spent. It felt good to know I had lived off only 60% of the Turkish minimum wage. I did wonder if I would be able to do that in the UK though. It had been important for me to do as much as I could to come in at under £345 for the month, as from May I would need to have a bigger budget for all I had planned for this summer. Luckily, my Resort Experts bookings were increasing, having been in business for 18 months now, and I was a lot nearer to having more written travel products to sell for extra semi-passive income.
My weight loss had gone better in April than it did in March and I was slightly lighter at the end of the month than I was at the beginning but I still needed to lose about 5kg to hit target weight again.
So many more shenanigans were coming up for May; more outings, some celebrations and more boat trips! Dalyan would start to get warmer, have less rain and hopefully more tourists about. It was about to become so much more tempting to overspend and overindulge as the holiday season started! I’d also started to think about my plans for June and meeting up with friends in the UK during the limited days I would be in Sheffield.

Gratitude List
1. Getting some new Uniqlo clothes from Captain Caveman
2. Successfully reorganising my June travel arrangements to fit in a work trip
3. Not completely blowing the April budget.

Dalyan – 29th April

Before my alarm went off at 7am on Wednesday 29th April, I checked where I was against the weekly and monthly budget. In the last week of the month I had spent £85, of which £65 was on a preplanned boat trip where I had paid £45 in English cash. I decided that it meant I still had £30 of the weekly budget left, plus £20 for the last 2 days of April.
I had started to feel better so I went to meet a friend for a walk and talk at 8am.

We finished our morning walk at Kefal tea gardens, for a cheese toastie and a cup of tea. At only 175 lira (£2.92) for breakfast it was very enjoyable but then I realised I should’ve got weighed earlier. I was in charge of the Fat Club scales as Carol had to make an unplanned trip to the UK so this was my 3rd week in charge. My home scales had said I’d stayed the same as last week and I’d lost 2cm off my bust and waist, my hips were the same.
I was just logging in to my emails when I noticed an important announcement about Turkish residency. As this affected me I went to read and check the information. The authorities had decided to significantly increase the fees for both new and renewal of residency permit fees. There was also not much in the way of notice as it was effective from the 1st of May!!! I currently have a 2 year residency permit expiring in 2027 which I had paid 6,523 lira (£133 at the time). In the next 2 days it would increase to 57,000 lira (£950) – an increase of 873%.
As you can imagine this was quite a shock for people who were about to renew imminently and without much warning. It did also make me question if it would be worth me saving up £950 just to renew my residency next year when I might not be in Dalyan as much as previous years. I messaged Captain Caveman who told me not to worry about it and it was still cheaper than moving back to the UK. There were lots of people on Facebook up in arms about it, with plenty of expats wondering if foreigners were no longer being made to feel welcome staying in Turkey. I googled how much it would be for a Turk to get a similar permit to reside in the UK and it was just over £3000 for 2026, so by comparison it was cheap!
I worked for the rest of the day and ate loquats for lunch, before heading out to Fat Club. I’d already arranged with Ma & Pa to meet them at Ren Garden after the group meeting at 4pm.

I’d put on 0.25kg (0.6lb) on Carol’s scales and was about to over indulge too. I had a pot of tea for 100 lira (£1.67) while behaving at Fat Club but it wouldn’t last long. I ordered a white wine and soda while my parents arrived and when they got there Dad ordered an Efes Malt beer and Mom a lemonade. They apologised for not making it over to mine after being in Jiks last night but Ma’s phone battery was dead. They had ended up giving the ball a right kick so Ma was off the booze today.
Eva, the waitress had made fresh chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies so I ditched the Slimming World plan for a cookie and another white wine and soda. We all enjoyed the cookies which are so good and not diet friendly at all.
I’d decided to finish work today at 3pm but, as I’m never really off duty, I always have my work phone on me. I got a message from one of the Resort Expert owners which simply said ‘call Jenny asap’.
I excused myself from my parents and went in to the garden room area and called the mobile number. I use Rebel app while in Turkey as it’s free/cheaper than using my UK phone package. What happened next was great as Jenny told me I was going on a work trip next month. Even though it overlapped with other trips/birthday celebrations, I obviously said yes and she asked me if I would be able to respond to her email with some credentials as soon as possible today. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to bring my catch up with my parents to a bit of an abrupt end so that I could go back home and sort it out and look at changing my flights. As we went to pay our bill at Ren Garden my mom, who had already given me English cash to refund me for her shopping and putting her internet on, paid for my drinks and cookie, which was very kind and meant that I’d only actually spent just under £5 today, with tomorrow being the last day of the month and a £300 monthly budget.
Back home, I started rejigging my travel plans for next month. I called Captain Caveman to let him know and he helped me plan. I had a very late dinner as I was still trying to work out the best way to change my flights.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman putting the new residency renewal cost in to perspective
2. Spending time with Ma & Pa
3. Planning a work related trip.

Dalyan – 28th April

I woke up on Tuesday 28th April and checked to make sure my parents had arrived in Dalyan ok. I’d fallen asleep before the text from Ma to say they were here but the reason the stair light wasn’t on was because the fuse switch wasn’t on. I’d not realised that but I wouldn’t have been able to reach it so the taxi driver had kindly sorted it for them.
I was very busy with work admin in the morning and then attended an online 2 hour co-working session from noon. I took the time to write a helpful PDF for people going on holiday or travelling who wanted to pack less luggage. I’m not great at Canva but I managed it and shared it with others in the group for feedback – it was well received. I was slowly making progress on the side projects in an area where I really wanted to help people have better travel experiences and save money on unnecessary things. Some budget airlines don’t half know how to charge for extra bags!
I quickly snaffled down some sourdough with cheese, olives, tomato, cucumber and onion and replied to an invite from Vanessa to come out later. Her daughter and 3 friends were arriving tonight from the UK and wanted to know if I wanted to join them for drinks. I did, but I thought it best to keep my evening free for seeing my parents as I was keen to see them and not sure of their plans yet.
Just before 3pm I started looking at some Christmas flights for a customer’s Vietnam trip and got a text from Ma to say they had stopped off at Corner Bar for a drink if I was free to join them. I did want to join them but I was busy with work and so had to suggest I meet them after work.
By 5pm I was still waiting for some prices from a supplier so I invited my parents round to mine. By the time I had sorted out my work commitments, I had missed the chance to see my parents as they had arranged to catch up with friends. I suggested tomorrow after Fat Club if they didn’t get time to call in that night.
I had a random meal out of the freezer for dinner around 8.30pm and had an early night so that I could get up early tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. My parents being back in Dalyan
2. Getting my Pack Less, Travel Better PDF completed
3. Being invited to join Vanessa and her family (even though I turned her down).

Dalyan – 27th April

There was excitement in the air on Monday 27th April as my parents were arriving in Dalyan tonight. I’d not seen them for almost 3 months so I was looking forward to seeing them and had promised to run some errands for them before they got here around midnight.
I got up really early so I could get some work done before I headed out to the bank to draw out cash to take to Captainnet to put the internet on. There was a queue with it being a Monday so I didn’t have time to get the shopping and turn on the electric just yet.
I rushed back to squeeze lunch in of an apple with peanut butter as I had a Tech masterclass booked in at 2pm. The zoom meeting went well but then I had more actions to add to the never ending to do list. The pool and garden men were back and sorting out the pool and seemed to be doing well so far.
At 4pm I broke off work to go to the shop to get my parents some water, milk, bread and margarine as requested. I also got them some eggs and bananas which they didn’t ask for but I thought would be good for tomorrow’s breakfast. I came back home as I had a call with a customer and then I went over to my parents with the shopping to turn their mains electric on. It is quite dark around he streets late at night so I wanted to make sure the outside stair light worked. I don’t have a key to check inside but was concerned as the outside light didn’t work. I had to tie the 2 bags on to the door handle as it wasn’t one you could hook a bag over and I didn’t want cats to get at it.
Because I couldn’t get the light to work I messaged their taxi company and asked if they would make sure the driver put his torch on and walked them to the door. I checked the internet was working and it was so they could at least message me when they arrived.
I went back home and it was already 8pm by this time so I just had some sourdough, cheese and olives for dinner. I had a chat with my sister and was on the phone until around 11pm, she was also looking forward to coming to Dalyan next month. I then wondered if I should wander round to meet my parents but thought better of it – they would probably rather me not interfere and go straight to bed. I ended up falling asleep around midnigt.

Gratitude List

1. A Tech masterclass to help with passive income

2. Getting all the stuff sorted for Ma & Pa’s arrival

3. Getting quite a bit of fresh air.

Dalyan – 24th & 25th April

I’d overexerted myself a little which meant I had been feeling run down, I had got worse on Friday 24th April and had to cancel my morning walk with a friend and my afternoon hair appointment. As I didn’t have any meetings or calls until midday, I treated myself to a cup of tea back in bed. I was really tired and my body ached, I felt a bit sickly and hoped I wasn’t coming down with something.
I did the final day of Easi Passive Income with Natalie and Collette in my pyjamas and it was really good. I also won a prize but wasn’t concentrating, due to feeling ill, and wasn’t sure what it was exactly.
I confirmed the Captain Boris cheese and wine boat trip for Ma, Pa, Gayle and I for next month. I still had the English money from Captain Caveman in an envelope, which he had left me in February for me to use. I had decided to keep it in reserve for boat trips and airport taxis so that those things didn’t have to come out of my daily budget money. Quite frankly, it was burning a proverbial hole in that envelope and I was looking forward to a relaxing boat trip or two.
At 5.30pm I decided to get out of the office and go to the shops as I needed to buy some meat and withdraw some cash for the market tomorrow. Unfortunately, Migros didn’t have the chicken I wanted so here’s what I bought, with prices in lira:

Migros Supermarket
1 Dido chocolate bar 19.00
Hummus 51.90
Bitter lemon 80.00
Total spent 140.90 lira (£2.35)

I’d also checked out which yoghurt they had in the shop for when my sister arrived, as she prefers to eat fat free yoghurt – they don’t have it here.
I noted that the new gardener and pool man had started work so we would perhaps have a nice complex this year.
Georgina and Holly shared their free funnel so I took the opportunity but I still didn’t have a platform to put it on – I would sort it when I felt better. I sat outside and ate some loquats from the tree.
I had pasta for dinner and then watched Netflix in bed, still feeling unwell. I hoped I felt better soon as I had a very busy weekend coming up!

Gratitude List
1. Back to bed with a cup of tea
2. Winning something, even if I can’t recall what it was
3. Having some rest.

I’d not had much sleep when I woke up on Saturday 25th April due to the Jazz bar blaring out music until 2am! It was quite chilly as I made my cup of tea and took it back to bed. Kate had invited me on the yellow boat for a day trip today but I had too much to do and was on a boat trip tomorrow already.
I’d done a few hours work before going to the market at 11am. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira:

Stall 1
Bananas & strawberries 220 lira (£3.67)

Stall 2
Pumpkin, Spring onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach & cucumber
340 lira (£5.67)

Total spent 560 lira (£9.34)

I called in to see Jamie, Drew and Norman and Drew gave me 2 bars of Vietnamese chocolate which I was very excited about. I had leftover pasta for lunch and a piece of chocolate.
I’d had to move meeting a friend this morning as I wasn’t well still so made my way to meet her at the tea gardens at 4pm. My friend also had invited me on another boat trip for tomorrow but I couldn’t go on that one either because I was already going on Julia’s boat trip. I headed home to finish off the Easi Passive Income tasks and, while I waited for news on how a friend’s brain tumour surgery had gone, I had a glass of white wine. I had spaghetti bolognese for dinner and then a relatively early night.

Gratitude List
1. Being busy at work
2. Market shopping
3. Chocolate from Drew.

Dalyan – 22nd & 23rd April

When I got weighed on the home scales on Wednesday 22nd April, I had remained the same weight. My measurements showed I’d put 1cm on each of my bust, waist and hips, too. I was standing in for Carol at Fat Club today while she was having another lovely day on her Rhine cruise – each day she shared photos and it really looked beautiful. First I had work to do followed by an Anex training webinar where Amanda launched their updated website. It had lots of improvements to the quotes and it was much more user friendly. I liked Anex because they had a good selection of hotels and I wished they had ones in Vietnam.

Day 3 of the Easi Passive Income challenge got us working even harder on our ideas and I was almost late to Fat Club. At Fat Club I was a bit naughty and a few of us ended up having a wine or beer, despite me losing 0.9kg (2lb) this week. Vanessa was popping over later so I bought a couple of the fab cookies, made by Eva at Ren Garden, which came to a total of 390 lira (£6.50) with my glass of wine.

I had a call with a couple of friends and then sorted a cruise enquiry with specific cabin choice. I accidentally snaffled one of the chocolate chip cookies from Ren Garden and they were so good! I was meant to be going for a walk with Vanessa but she had overdone it at the beach today so we just met at the Kefal tea gardens. It was just 100 lira (£1.66) for 4 teas. They have a strict card only payment system there now, no cash payments are allowed. We walked (Vanessa limped) home via the shop so that Vanessa could buy some milk, then came back to mine for her to pick up some Yorkshire tea bags.
My total spend today was just £8.17 so I was off to a great start being back under the £10 per day budget.

Gratitude List

1. More free training

2. Losing weight and having a cheeky wine at Fat Club

3. Seeing Vanessa.

The weather changed on Thursday 23rd April and it was colder and a bit wet. Any plans to go out were scuppered. I had so much on the to-do list today that I messaged Sam, one of the owners of Resort Experts, to check it was ok with him for me to miss today’s meeting. He replied to say that there was no specific agenda and no updates so I wouldn’t miss anything important. I did day 4 of the Easi Passive Income challenge and came up with so many more ideas for digital products. I even cracked on with the titles of some and noted them down to finish and get them out to the public. My appeal for Mailerlite access was denied and I was no further forward with that avenue. It was frustrating but I needed to go back to the drawing board.

I didn’t get an evening walk as it was raining but instead I got a lot done from my list today including recommendations of shampoo for coloured hair to Vanessa who wanted to get some for her daughter. I rounded off the night with messages to family to let them know about a cheese and wine boat trip in May that we could perhaps go on. Captain Boris had 2 dates but I could only do one of them which coincidentally was when my sister was here and I know how much she loves them. It was £60 for 4 hours on a Thursday afternoon with an abundance of cheese and charcuterie. Gayle, Neil and I had last done it when I came back from Rhodes and really enjoyed it. This time Neil would miss it but Gayle was up for it while Ma & Pa wanted to think about it. I went to bed early as I needed to be up early tomorrow for a morning walk. It was the second zero spend day in a row too and I wondered if I would ever manage a zero spend week.

Gratitude List

1. Easi Passive Income and all the new ideas and actions it brought

2. Getting lots done, despite missing the team meeting

3. Knowing there was a potential cheese and wine boat trip with Captain Boris and Rebecca to look forward to.

Dalyan – 21st April

I’d arranged to meet a friend for a morning walk and talk at 8am on Tuesday 21st April. I took photos along the river and it never gets boring seeing the same views. We had a lovely walk then went back to the Kaunos tea gardens for a cup of tea. I rushed back home to carry on with work as I had a lot on my plate. I’d also had further messages from Carol from Fat Club who was absolutely loving her Rhine cruise, still. I actually thought it would be a good one to do with Captain Caveman in the future as it was the sort of itinerary we would both enjoy.

At noon I joined day 2 of the Easi Passive Income with Natalie and Collette which was all about ideal clients.
In the afternoon I had more time working on quotes and enquiries, then did a content plan for the rest of the month.
The only thing I spent money on today was a replacement water which was now 120 lira (£2). I had mushroom pasta at gone 3pm which turned out to be lunch and dinner as I was too busy for the rest of the day and forgot to eat.
My 3rd week’s budget was completely blown and was over the £70 by £28.59! I could have blamed having to fork out for internet and contraception pills (£27.24) but really I should blame the 2 takeaway meals and more alcohol than usual. I needed to try harder next week but it was certainly getting more difficult as more restaurants and bars opened and family and friends would soon be arriving in Dalyan. I also didn’t count in the budget me paying £60 for the annual Netflix for Captain Caveman and my accounts as I was only paying it because Captain Caveman was otherwise engaged.

Gratitude List

1. An early morning walk

2. More free courses and advice from experts

3. Recognising where my overspend on the budget was coming from.

Dalyan – 20th April

When I woke up early on Monday 20th April, I realised I had missed an event yesterday. Natalie Crowe, a WordPress expert who I follow on Facebook, was running a free course this week called Easi Passive Income. I’d signed up for it and also recommended it to a few friends who also have their own businesses but had missed the welcome party last night. I got up and cleaned and tidied up ready for the workmen coming to fix the leaking bathroom window and start the balcony repairs. I didn’t have time for the hoovering as I needed to get my content written for the week. I also caught up on my blog posts and planned my diary for this week. I’d hoped to go to Köyceğiz for the boat trip and market with Yellow Boat today but I was just too busy.
At midday I logged on for the first session of the WordPress tech course to help me bring some digital products to the public, via my blog. Natalie and Collette were very good and a friend was also attending. I love working for Resort Experts but, as we only get paid commission and it depends on when customers are travelling, pay can be really unpredictable. So I had decided I needed to produce more products that would create passive income streams, to help me through those months of little or no pay.
It went well and there were lots of lightbulb moments of what I could, and should, be doing. I was motivated so I did the homework straight away and then did a module on marketing from Lisa Johnson’s Fabulous Foundations course.
Before lunch I finally got back in to Messenger by reinstalling it and then my banking app also started working again. I had a walk to Captainnet to renew my home internet, which had expired yesterday. It’s actually better to use the Turkcell hot spot but there are certain things that don’t work so I choose to have both. Unfortunately, I got a call from a Resort Experts colleague who had an issue they needed help with so I got distracted and forgot to go to the bank on the way. This meant I had to go back to the bank then back to Captainnet where I was chuffed to complete the whole transaction in Turkish. It cost me 750 lira (£12.50) for one month as I was not going to be in Turkey the whole summer so I didn’t pay for the 3 months upfront which is the maximum allowed. I managed to ask the assistant if I would be able to put my parents’ internet on for them as they arrive soon and she said I could come before 6pm next Monday. After all was sorted, I walked back by the river and bumped in to Debbie (Darling), Sue and their friend. They were off to River House for lunch and invited me to join them. I wanted to but I’d already overspent on this week’s budget and I had so much to do today.
After more Resort Experts work it was time for me to attend a Tech Clinic with Holly Frances in the Neon Nook. I needed to have a Mailerlite (or similar) platform to be able to get my digital products off the ground but they had suspended my account. Holly was helping me with a solution and in the end we decided Mailerlite was the best free platform for me so I decided to appeal their decision.
That lasted until gone 6pm and then I grabbed some leftover curry for dinner before a video call with my friend so we could discuss what we had learned on our free courses today. The call went really well and we decided to throw more energy at getting our WordPress monetised. As I sat down to tick off my to do list and update my diary, it was only then that I realised the workmen didn’t turn up!

Gratitude List
1. Free courses and advice from experts to help get me closer to earning money from digital products
2. Being busy
3. Sharing ideas with an entrepreneurial friend.

Dalyan – 18th & 19th April

Surprisingly, Saturday 18th April didn’t have the rain it had been forecast and was actually warm and sunny. Carol from Fat Club had been in touch to say she was enjoying her Rhine cruise which was starting in Frankfurt. I had booked her trip with Travelpack and we had found her a German ship which had the Juliet cabin she wanted and couldn’t find. She was quickly turning in to my new PR woman as she posted all over Facebook and in the Fat Club group chat how thrilled she was with this trip already. I was pleased as I know Carol and Ian are a sociable pair and wasn’t sure if they may miss having plenty of fellow Brits around them. After working all morning, I walked over to Vanessa & Matt’s. We had a cup of tea and then walked to the market. I only bought strawberries at 185 lira (£3.08) then we went to my usual pancake stall for a spot of lunch. Vanessa had a chocolate pancake and I chose a spinach one and, although the prices of them had gone up recently, they cost just 300 lira (£5) for both, which is reasonable and they are filling.
After the market, Vanessa and I decided to call in to Ren Garden and we sat in the garden room at the back with a glass of white wine and soda each so we could chat. We had just 2 glasses each with the soda and then had to leave. Matt had been trying to get old of Vanessa but her phone was on silent, to tell us to come to Corner bar. I said I’d head home and Vanessa could catch up with everyone in Corner bar. As I’d paid for the pancakes at the market, I just put 200 lira (£3.33) towards the bill and then we said our farewells. I called at the bakery and bought bread for 20 lira (33p) making a total spend for today of 705 lira (£11.95).
In the evening I spoke on a video call with my mom who was getting excited to be coming out to Dalyan soon.

Gratitude List
1. Carol being pleased with the cruise I’d booked for her
2. Meeting up with Vanessa
3. A video call with Ma.

I had debated having a day away from the laptop on Sunday 19th April but I realised it was not a good idea. From next week I had lots of stuff booked in that meant being away from the desk, so I really needed to make the most of it while I could. I also had 3 new enquiries, 2 of which were about cruises and one for a trip to Turkey. Messenger had started playing up and wasn’t working, I also was having trouble with the banking app. I had got it in my diary that I needed to pick up sourdough from Mesude today so I rushed off to do that, midmorning. On the way, I bumped in to my favourite white dogs and had to give them some attention. This week I was trying the caraway seed sourdough, as well as the ciabatta one. It came to 500 lira (£8.33) for both loaves and I was pleased with the quality. They stay fresh for ages and it’s also great to freeze – it’s so much better for my stomach than other types, too.
Next, I called at Migros to pick up some essentials – here’s what I bought with prices in lira:

Migros Supermarket
Pasta 13.50
Tomato purée 38.92
Green Tea 61.95
Dates 99.90
2 Quark 111.90
4 tins of tomatoes 149.84
Feta style cheese 174.90
Total spent 650.91 lira (£10.84)

I’d not intended on getting the tomato products but they had plenty and they were on offer, so I seized my chance, knowing I was already going to be over the budget this week!
I hurried back and did a few quotes then carried on with more admin and content work. I ate roasted courgettes with cauliflower cheese for lunch, which was tasty. The sourdough trial was a huge success and I was very impressed with it.
In the evening I had a walk and bought some contraception pills which had increased a lot in price. I paid 884.48 lira (£14.74) for 2 packs and they were now more expensive than paying for them in the UK. In November they had been £1.50 per pack cheaper!
For dinner I had a chicken, chickpea and spinach curry with steamed rice and it was really good.

Gratitude List
1. Having too much to do to take a Sunday off
2. Sourdough – caraway seed was a game changer
3. Good food.

Dalyan – 17th April

It was a busy day in the office on Friday 17th April and I didn’t get round to eating lunch until gone 2.30pm. I just had a combination of left over chicken casserole with a chicken leg and some roasted veggies.
At 6pm I attended another cruise training webinar with Travelpack, a supplier I’ve used a few times for my customers. This free training was the last in this series and was on Antara luxury cruises on the Ganges. Previous ones had covered Lindblad, Riverside, Uncruise and Silver Sea but Travelpack covered all cruise ships. Before the session started they told us to grab a drink so I poured myself a glass of wine – they probably meant put the kettle on. Still, we had a great training session despite them being after normal office hours on a Friday night for my Turkish time zone. I’ve been to India before and it was no longer on my wishlist but, after this session I was very impressed and added it back on. The Antara cruise ships were absolutely fantastic and I would love to go on one of their trips with Captain Caveman one day. Coincidentally, an old Sheffield friend and ex-Norwich Union colleague (also called Jo) had recently set up her own travel business and was on the webinar too. I remembered her dad had connections to India so was pleased she was attending.
The webinar lasted about an hour and then we had a bit of a wrap up from the organisers at Travelpack as that had been the last for a while. There would be an announcement next month of who would win a Fam trip on one of their cruises this summer and I really hoped it would be me.

I was about to rush off to join the opening night at Dalyan Lounge as it had already started and quite a few friends were going to be there, in their various groups, when Captain Caveman called. I’d arranged to meet Vanessa at Dalyan Lounge and she said she would save me a seat but then, as it rained and she was tired from being out yesterday, she decided to stay at home. I walked along the river and it was really picturesque tonight.

By the time I arrived, there were no seats and the bar was full. I had been sat down all day so I wasn’t particularly bothered about sitting down. Andrea and John were the first people to welcome me and offered to squish up so that I could sit with them round the table with Jamie, Nicola, Nanny Kay, her daughter and her friend. I sat between Andrea and John when John insisted. We had good chat while I enjoyed a glass of red wine. Andrea and John had been expecting the rest of their friends group but they had cancelled due to the rain. It was very cosy on that couch as John and Andrea tried the the cocktails and we were all pleased to see that Captain Boris and Rebecca (the new owners of Dalyan Lounge) had a full bar on a rainy and cold evening. I had a couple of Angora red wines which were still on the cheap prices of 180 lira (£3) per glass, by which time all of the people we were sharing the table with had started to leave or move tables. I decided not to stay too long as I needed my dinner. I said my goodbyes just as it was getting too smokey for me and reminded myself that I wasn’t going to achieve all my goals by being in the pub drinking too much.

I left and went via the bank to draw out some cash for the market tomorrow. I also decided to spend the money I might have spent on a Friday night out on fish and chips from Cadde Balık Ekmek. I took them as a takeaway and also got myself some popcorn and a chocolate bar from the shop. Today I had spent a total of 975 lira (£16.53) and was in bed by 10.30pm feeling quite tired.

Gratitude List
1. Free Cruise training webinar from Travelpack
2. Opening party at Dalyan Lounge
3. Good food including fish and chips.

Photo Credit – some photos supplied by Dalyan Lounge

Dalyan – 16th April

I started my day on Thursday 16th April with catching up on blogging and content writing before breaking off for leftover pizza for breakfast. The Heybe pizza was definitely good the day after too.
I worked all day, had more pizza for lunch and then got word from Anex Tours that their package holidays could now include Ryanair flights. I’m not ordinarily a fan of Ryanair but for some people it can be the difference between going on holiday or not.
Considering Captain Caveman and I should’ve been in Lebanon now (for a caving conference tagged on to a holiday), life was still good but I missed seeing him. The May visit was not looking good as neither of us could fit it in and I didn’t want to miss spending time with my parents or seeing my sister and brother-in-law when they came to Dalyan either.
The Aussies had left this morning, I would see them again in September and Vanessa had arrived back in Dalyan today.
I didn’t attend the Resort Experts team meeting as I had a co-worker session with the Neon Nook for 2 hours. I decided to work on my lead magnet/freebie and managed to get it finished in the 2 hours. I then tried to attempt setting up a Mailerlite account to be able to start my email list collation and automation but that didn’t go well and was rather frustrating.
After finishing work at 7.15pm I took a walk along the river just as it was about to get dark and took some photos.
I called at the Yaman Büfe 2 where I bought 2 bottles of wine and a bag of crisps for 705 lira (£11.75) but I didn’t drink any as I was saving it for when Vanessa popped round.

Gratitude List
1. Leftover pizza
2. Neon Nook co-working session
3. A riverside walk.

Dalyan – 15th April

It was a busy day on Wednesday 15th April and I woke up to Captain Caveman putting his foot down. Before I’d gone to sleep last night he’d messaged to ask me to change my flight to the UK to go earlier. I’d messaged him to say that it was too expensive to change what I had booked and that I had Norman, the dog, to be looking after. I’d booked to go to the UK in June, expecting to do an extra trip to see Captain Caveman in May (we had even mentioned meeting in France) and he had not been able to confirm when would be convenient with work. He had said to get the flight the week before but to Manchester so I could visit him first but I was dog sitting until the evening of the day he suggested. My last message to him was to say I wasn’t paying £150 and moving the dog sit. When I woke up, Captain Caveman had sent me £200 and told me to book the earliest flight I could get. Jamie asked Drew to book his flight for a day earlier so he could take Norman from me and I booked my flight – I had added a few days in Sheffield in June! I spent most of the morning fannying around with that and making sure all my work admin was up to date.
I got weighed on my home scales to find no change but my measurements were disappointing; I’d put 2cm on my bust, 1cm on my waist and lost 1cm off my hips.
At midday I attended a Create Publish Grow Zoom call regarding my travel planner. Then I just had time to eat cheese on toasted rye bread with olives before Fat Club. Carol was in the hairdresser’s and was flying to Frankfurt tonight for her Rhine cruise. I had agreed to stand in for her at Fat Club for the next couple of weeks.
On the Fat Club scales I was surprised to have lost 0.5kg (1.1lb) and Debbie and I had a glass of wine for 150 lira (£2.50).
In the evening I waited on messages from The Aussies as to when I could go say farewell as they were flying home tomorrow. They were busy packing so I went round about 7.30pm but didn’t stop long. Their time had gone so fast this time and they were very sad to be leaving Dalyan. We had managed to fit in a few catch ups this time and I’d enjoyed seeing them. They also gave me some spare food and the rest of my gin back which I’d taken over at the start of their visit.
I got home about 9.30pm and had a call with an existing customer looking for their next trip. I’d not eaten yet so I decided to try a new pizza delivery. Heybe was now doing 2 for 1 pizza at a really good price, they had lots of good reviews so I decided to give it a try. I ended up with 2 decent sized pizzas and, with a tip, paid just 475 lira (£7.91). I chose the Hawaiian and the Heybe pizzas – they were really good and bigger than I’d expected for a Medium.
I managed to spend just 42p over my £10 per day budget. Tomorrow I had another busy day and it was also time for Vanessa to arrive in Dalyan.

Gratitude List
1.Getting a flight booked (and paid for) for a visit to see Captain Caveman
2. Losing weight this week
3. Treating myself to a takeaway for dinner and having lots leftover for tomorrow.

Dalyan – 14th April

It was Sabotage Tuesday on Tuesday 14th April so I focused on getting on with work. I had enquiries about various Greek islands this week and a couple of tentative questions about Vietnam. I had lots of half started side projects too, which I was working my way through but not at the rate I wanted to. I didn’t stop for lunch or cups of tea until 3pm when I decided to have some pasta and a fresh mint tea.
After cracking through the to do list until 6pm, I decided to take myself off for a walk. Because it was the end of week 2 today and Fat Club tomorrow, I had to avoid any temptation to spend money, drink alcohol or eat unhealthy treats.
On my walk I went as far as the end of the river walk towards the Denizkızı ferry, as there are very few temptations along there. I took quite a few photos and then on the way back got chatting with an old friend of my parents, Yener. He showed me his new boat, we had a photo together but I had to rush off as I needed a pee.
I had a simple chicken, peppers and onion wrap for dinner then chilled out before bed by calculating where I was on my weekly budget. I’d gone over last week so this week I’d tried harder, ending on a total of £69.46 spent, out of a £70 weekly budget! I’d only had 2 zero spend days but I was pleased to have achieved the budget. I knew it would be very difficult to do that next week as I had quite a few things to pay out for.

Gratitude List
1. Getting out for an evening walk
2. Another zero spend day
3. Achieving the £70 budget this week.

Dalyan – 13th April

There was excitement for me on Monday 13th April, in more than one way. I got paid and it was correct so I was pleased with that. I was also only just under my weekly budget so I was determined to not overspend in the next 2 days. I had beans on toast for breakfast then had a short walk for some fresh air.
I attended a Copy Clinic session in the afternoon and was getting more movement on my content writing for books, planners and even digital products. Because of the unpredictability of working in the travel industry, I didn’t want to just rely on getting paid commission or being affected by global issues. I’d noticed customers were looking to book shorter and closer to home trips more recently. I was therefore spending a lot of time working on creating passive income streams for the future.
I had a late lunch of leftover chicken with cauliflower cheese which looked unimpressive but tasted good. I had strawberries with quark and honey then got back to my laptop.
In the evening I was invited to a BBQ with Mark & Kate at The Aussies’ place. I called to Yaman Büfe 1 on the way, for wine and soda, where I spent just 315 lira (£5.25) before wandering over for a lovely evening with friends. The food was good, we had a few drinks and played games where we all laughed a lot! I completely ruined my Slimming World plan by eating lots of fairy cake made by Kate, which I just couldn’t resist.

Gratitude List
1. Pay Day
2. Plans to make money through passive income
3. A fun BBQ with friends – so much laughter!