Dalyan – 20th March

On Thursday 20th March I was really looking forward to Jamie getting back to Norman & Edna so that I could enjoy the comforts and convenience of being in my own home (well, Captain Caveman’s!). I was up before 7am as it had been stormy in the night and poor Norman had woken up early, keen to get outside and check for damage. It was 4 degrees and I was cold. I updated Edna that Jamie (aka Little Daddy) would be back very late tonight.
I had a Dido chocolate bar with a cup of tea before doing a bit of work. After a bit of cleaning up, I went to the shop to order another gas bottle plus a water refill. The cost of water with delivery was 70 lira (£1.42), the gas was 950 lira (£19.31) and lasts a long time. I bought bread and milk for 83.85 lira (£1.70) from Migros so that Jamie had some upon return. By the time I had got home, I barely had time to take all of the stuff out of the cupboard before the fella was here to replace the gas bottle. Norman did not like the man and went mad at him – maybe he thought he was going to steal his treats. I had a chicken and lettuce wrap for lunch then attended the Resort Experts team meeting where we had a great session and shared ideas. Norman was restless and started a new trick where he tried to tell me he wanted feeding much earlier than usual by scratching the cupboard with his paw.
I walked the dogs for the last time and then they had their dinner with spare egg in – Norman loves a bit of egg. For my own dinner I warmed up a bit of curry and rice and then had a video call with Vanessa. She had bought my book and it had arrived today. I was so pleased and she sent me a photo. I did a bit more work in the evening while I waited for the dogs’ bedtime and, once I knew Jamie was on his way, I left to go back home to bed. I was looking forward to getting in my own bed and having a lay in tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. A good Resort Experts team meeting
2. Video call with Vanessa
3. Getting back home.

Dalyan – 13th March

It was another busy day on Thursday 13th March which started with dog cuddles, overnight oats and my cup of tea. I totted up my money for the month and started to work out if I could stretch to paying an agent to do my Residency Renewal. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was now in to his 3rd month in England and on month 2 in his role as Senior Project Manager. We discussed the idea of me going to the UK in May, after I had picked up my new ikamet card (assuming my residency renewal would be successful). Flights from Dalaman to Gatwick ranged from £60-£100 one way in mid-May, were as low as £40 in early-May and rose to about £130 if I waited until June. Captain Caveman was due to arrive in Dalyan in 2 weeks and 3 days’ time but, unfortunately, it would be a flying visit. Captain Caveman also seemed preoccupied and couldn’t talk for long as he needed to get ready for work – the 3 hours time difference was a bit of a pain at times.
Before lunch, I was so excited to see that I had reviews for my book. The Aussies’ review of 5 Stars and saying my book was ‘Hilarious’ had been done 3 days ago but I had missed it as Amazon doesn’t tell me I have a review! My second review was also a 5 Star and significant because it was from one of the friends who had been with me in some of the escapades I wrote about in the book. I was very pleased to know that she loved it and found it ‘funny & informative’. Those reviews really made my day and I was spurred on to start a list of ideas for my next book.
I had an early lunch of chicken, lettuce and sun dried tomatoes and a frozen yoghurt bar before getting prepared for the Resort Experts team meeting. Today’s meeting was a good one with lots of new ideas and tools to help us out. There were some useful conversations and I learned more from the team. After the call, I even chatted to a couple of my colleagues and we shared some marketing ideas. The afternoon would be a lot more frantic than I had planned for.

I had lots of admin type jobs to do which included getting my Turkish phone back up and running, getting a new 2 year health insurance policy and finding my documents for the residency application. I’d already decided that I would be having wine this evening as it had been 4 days since I’d had any and I was probably going to need it. I had decided that I would use Dale Colson to do my residency renewal as he had given me a good price. There were comings and goings, including taking documents to him. When I went to get my phone sorted, I found out there are no longer any Turkcell shops in Dalyan. With all the faffing about, I got no work done, Norman & Edna put a complaint in that I was late for their walk, and I was so hungry that I had to buy a Dido chocolate bar on the last walk back. They were on a 2 for 1 offer in Migros which was great. The day had been a day of two halves and I always find the residency renewal process irritating and stressful.
I had left over curry with rice and naan bread for dinner with a glass of wine and it was very late when I got to bed. Tomorrow more residency faffing would continue.

Gratitude List
1. My first book reviews – and both 5 stars, from people with high travel expectations!
2. Resort Experts team meeting ideas
3. A call with a colleague to keep me sane.

Dalyan – 12th March

The dogs were awake early on Wednesday 12th March, Norman barked at 6.45am to be let out. It was about to be a long day!
After cups of tea and dog cuddles I took my measurements – they were not favourable! I had put on 1cm on my bust and waist, 2cm on my hips. Knowing the damage was already done, I decided to make frozen yoghurt bars with peanut butter, chocolate chips and blueberries in. I put it in the freezer then popped to the photographer to get my passport photos done, which cost 350 lira (£7.38) for 4. I called at Fire Opal to test the new fan light fitting worked, and stood on a stool to turn it on – it was whizzy and would be ideal for the summer months. By 10am I had done all my morning jobs and I had a frozen yoghurt bar for breakfast after having done some work and blog writing, while cuddling the dogs who were both keen to put in a shift today.
Turkish class was at 11.30am, after which I went back to Jamie’s to let the dogs out and eat cheese on toast for lunch. At 1.30pm I was on a Webinar training session for Melia Hotels which are really popular luxury hotels.

Fat Club was at 2pm where I was delighted to find that I had only put on 0.1kg (0.2lb) so had pretty much stayed the same and remained under target! By 4.15pm, I was on my way, with Norman and Edna, to celebrate a few sales of my ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ book. While drinking a red wine at Mono & More in the sun, one of my great friends sent me a selfie of her with my book and I was so excited. I was even more thrilled to see that she posted on Facebook to say how much she was looking forward to reading it and how proud she was of me. I was emotional.
Edna was so excited too but that was because her and Norman had found some scraps of food on the floor. We bumped in to some of Jamie’s friends so Edna was pleased to be out with the girls and hoped it meant they would share food with her. I didn’t stay out as it was getting cooler so I paid for my wine, it had gone up to 145 lira (£3.06) now but was still a good price for the measure. Back at Jamie’s after feeding the dogs, I had a chicken curry with naan bread and rice, followed by strawberries.
I worked a little more on letting people know about my book and travel business and then started working on chapter titles for book 2.

Gratitude List
1. Melia hotels training webinar
2. Still being under target weight at Fat Club
3. Homemade chicken curry for dinner.

Dalyan – 11th March

Tuesday 11th March was not the calm easy day I had planned for, despite me booking in for a free yoga session at Nil Lounge in the morning. I had tea and the Slimming World breakfast cake to start the day and noticed that my book was starting to get a bit of traction. The Aussies had commented that they thought I needed to get in touch with someone who could get the book available in all airports and train stations and I was still trying to work out how to correct the cover and make it available to people in Vietnam and Turkey. Another great friend, who’s in the book, had bought it and I was looking forward to her feedback.
The Yoga class was busier than I thought it would be and it was quite gentle which I appreciated. I was so relaxed by the end that I could’ve fallen asleep quite easily. I still have trouble with my ankle and knee, from my accident, so it was good to do but I struggled to get in to some of the positions. The teacher was excellent and I really hoped to be able to go again. Unfortunately, 11am on a weekday is quite tricky to make sure I’m available for.
When I got to Jamie’s I had a chat with my Resort Expert colleague in Majorca, and she saw Norman and Edna and thought they were adorable. Edna loved this and was quite fussy. For lunch I had warmed up yesterday’s pasta and then I did a favour for my Mom at the bank. Even though the last time they had been in touch to ask for ID and I had been told it would be fine to do it when they returned to Dalyan, Mom had received a call to chase. It wasn’t too busy but the staff member I got wanted me to give her the actual passports rather than a photo. In the end, she gave me her direct email address and said it would be fine for my Mom to email copies of their passports in and she would update the system for us.
I was having some fruit with quark and honey when I got a photo from Jamie who was outside a hotel in Tenerife which I had just booked for a customer – what a coincidence. Luckily, it gave me the opportunity to ask for some more information about the area so that I could pass on some recommendations to the customer who would be going later this month. The afternoon was spent faffing about with stuff for my residency, mainly inept insurance advisors who tell you to cancel existing policies and start a new policy, meaning you won’t be covered for any pre-existing conditions. Having worked in insurance and compliance for years it made my teeth itch at how much bad advice was given here.
The dogs were both in the garden, enjoying the sun, when I noticed something in Norman’s mouth as he came running towards the open patio doors. He only had one of Edna’s turds in his mouth and it looked like he was smoking a cigar! He was keen to take it indoors to chomp on and I had to wrestle him to stop him getting in before I closed the door. I had real trouble getting it off him and he knew he was not meant to be eating shit! My phone was on charge so I didn’t get a photo but it was pretty funny.
I had a stir fry with egg rice for dinner and was pleased that today, I had managed a no spend day and was doing well against the budget so far this month.
Norman, Edna & I watched TV and I finished the week on 279 syns, which was 99 syns more than last week. It wasn’t looking optimistic for Fat Club tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. A free and very enjoyable yoga class
2. A video call with my colleague in Majorca.
3. Being able to sort out Ma & Pa’s bank task for them.

Photo credit – yoga photos by Nil

Dalyan – 10th March

On Monday 10th March I awoke to a message from The Aussies that my book had arrived in Australia and Greg had sent me a selfie – the first one I received. He was excited to be the first person in Australia to read it, Amanda would be reading it after him. It felt so good to have friends’ support, particularly ones who travel a lot and who we met in the place most of the chapters describe. I was a bit nervous but excited to know what they thought of my ramblings. I had now sold around 20 books and I was looking forward to hearing the reviews.
To distract myself, I started my residency renewal preparation and had decided to save money and do it myself instead of using an agent, which can cost up to £250 on top of all the other things needed. After breakfast oats and banana cake and a cup of tea, I went off to the bank to get 6 months’ of bank statements printed out to show I had put in the required amounts to my Turkish bank account. The rules only asked for 33,156 lira (£705 approx at today’s rate) for the last 3 months but I had been putting in a little more, just in case.
On the way back from the bank I called at the shop and bought the following, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
1 plastic bag 0.50
Chocolate biscuits 19.00
Light yoghurt 28.12
Sweetcorn 32.50
Cheese spread 34.90
2 tins tomatoes 35.90
Mixed beans 39.95
1kg chicken breasts 156.10
2 packs of mozzarella cheese 199.80
Total spent 546.77 lira (£11.61)

Nanny Kay popped round for a cup of tea and Edna was beside herself to have a visitor – her first in the 2 weeks that I had been looking after the dogs. She wouldn’t leave Nanny Kay alone and even kept fetching her a toy to play with and throw for her. It might have been because I had treated us to biscuits, which Edna was not used to.
In the afternoon, in between work enquiries, I went through all of my bank statements to check that each month had more than the required amount in. March had in the exact amount right now but more was due to go in this week. I was so pleased I had managed it and was so hoping that I would get granted my 2 years renewal this time. They had changed the rules the day after I got my 6 month renewal last time and I had been so gutted to have missed out. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was in Sheffield and was suggesting I might want to consider asking an agent to do the residency to make sure that it would definitely get done on a 2 year basis. I explained the costs of the insurance was already going to be a lot and I should save money. I got in touch with Aytaç Saraymine at Saraymine Insurance Agency, as well as the one I already had 6 months left of my policy with, to get quotes for a 2 year policy as required for the residency application.
For dinner I had roasted vegetable and feta style cheese with pasta and it was really lovely. I then joined a Lisa Johnson live Q&A session to hear her answer any questions about her and her business.

Gratitude List
1. Seeing Nanny Kay
2. Knowing that I had managed to get the required amount of money in to my Turkish bank account for the last 6 months – it had not been easy after losing my job.
3. Lisa Johnson’s Q&A session.

Dalyan – 7th March

Friday 7th March was a busy day for me, but also a really good day. I started the morning being stared at by the 2 cute dogs as I tried to enjoy my tea and toast. Edna had the Friday feeling, Norman wanted to go back to sleep and it was a lovely sunny day. I had an electrician popping in to fix up a light fitting that Jamie had given to Captain Caveman. I also had to meet Leanne to price up some work as well as meet a friend at the tea gardens, all around the same time. I had got a few messages about my book which was now live in a corrected version after getting some feedback from my Mom. Granted, my Mom isn’t the ideal customer for buying the book but she did buy the first copy and does have a keen critical eye for detail. I was lucky that she was able to put me straight on a couple of small corrections and the lay out and font size, which I had not seen yet. It still wasn’t perfect after the auto format situation but I had worked out that it was passable now. I even got the first photo of it and couldn’t work out why the back cover was black and the front cover was cream but with some of the black on the top and bottom of the front – it wasn’t meant to be like that but I guess at least it showed I wasn’t an intelligent robot! I worked out the maths and if I could sell 10 copies per day I would be able to just about pay for my residency this month. In my head that seemed like an achievable target!
My friend came to mine while we waited for the electrician. I ended up only getting the go ahead for one light to be put up as the second one was missing a part or appeared to be broken and they didn’t think kit would go where I wanted it to. The main one was being put up by 2 electricians so I decided to go to the tea gardens with my friend after all. The Kefal tea gardens was sunny and beautiful, and we decided to grab a spot of lunch. I had a cheese and onion toastie and a couple of teas which came to about 150 lira (£3.19) – quite cheap to say it came with chips and olives too. I had to rush back as I had a webinar meeting to attend at 1pm so I did that while letting the dogs out. Edna was insisting I consider an early finish so that we could go to the pub but I had a lunch and learn still to do. I took the dogs out and went back to Fire Opal to check on the light situation and when we got back to Jamie’s, the dogs napped. At 5pm I attended the lunch and learn I had booked in (2pm in the UK so still lunchtime) and it was interesting.
That evening, I had been invited over to friends for dinner and drinks. I took red wine and chocolate as my contribution. We had lots of red wine and a delicious chicken and potato dish. There were 2 desserts to choose from so, taking after my Dad, I had both. The food was so good and I left feeling very full and slightly merry after a great Friday night.

Gratitude List
1. Having tea and lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while
2. Good online meetings
3. Dinner with friends

If you want to buy the book you can get it as an eBook on Kobo here: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/you-can-t-shit-yourself-on-a-bicycle

You can choose between Kindle or Paperback with Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Cant-Shit-Yourself-Bicycle/dp/B0DWWTBVCL

If you aren’t in the UK you can also find my book on Amazon in USA, Australia, Spain, France and a few other countries by searching the title ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’.

Dalyan – 4th & 5th March

Before breakfast on Tuesday 4th March, I had checked in with the dogs and had a video call with Captain Caveman. I made a Slimming World style pancake for breakfast with my cup of tea and then cracked on with work until midday. I had some bookings, one of which was for later in this month so I prepared the paperwork and some recommendations to support the booking. An interesting reason as to why I nearly didn’t get the booking is that the customer had thought that if I booked the holiday they wouldn’t get the same benefits and good deal as booking directly with Jet2 Holidays. As a Jet2 Agent I can book the exact same holiday with all the things included that you would get if booking direct and at no extra cost or detriment. Luckily, the customer told me this as I had no idea that some people wouldn’t realise how it worked. As I can use most of the holiday companies, I can search and book trade only deals as well as book any that the general public see. There are a couple of the less reputable companies that I don’t get involved with but I can pretty much book anything. Any commission I get is not paid by the customer but by the companies so it just means if you book through me, I get paid instead of it going to someone you don’t know.
I had more soup for lunch and had a little walk to sort laundry while taking the dogs over to Fire Opal and back. I had a cheese, walnut and sun dried tomato salad when I got peckish and then made a chicken stir fry with rice after an afternoon of work. I made more of the Slimming World style breakfast oat bake so that I had it for breakfasts and snacks.

Gratitude List
1. Pancake for breakfast
2. Believing that walnuts and iceberg lettuce is now a treat!
3. Finishing the week on only 180 syns.

I wasn’t quite sure what my weight was on weigh day, Wednesday 5th March. My measurements were very favourable this week; no change to my bust but 4cm off my waist and 3cm off my hips – just proving how having less bread really makes a difference. Both dogs were very snoozey still as I had my tea and toast for breakfast and then did a bit of admin before Turkish class. I paid 40 lira (86p) for a Turkish tea and 120 lira (£2.58) for the lesson at Lukka. The exchange rate had reached 46.6 lira to the pound now. It was cold out but sunny and dry and I had a bit of a wander round before lunch which was reheated chicken stir fry and rice.
When I got to Fat Club, I was pleased to find that Carol’s scales showed I was 0.65kg (1.4lb) lighter and easily under my target – it felt really good but I did have the ‘advantage’ of having been ill at the weekend. I bought a soda water at Nil Lounge which was 50 lira (£1.07) as I’d had too much tea already today. As my treat for this week, instead of wine, I had bread and an açma which I had with cheese. On my second visit to Fire Opal I noticed the building next door had the brick work almost finished but it looked quite shoddy. I was busy with work, dog walks and then getting excited that my book had been bought in Australia!!! I didn’t cook any dinner and just had a cheese and lettuce sandwich, which I loved.

Gratitude List
1. Losing weight this week
2. Açma and bread as a treat
3. ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ being bought in Australia!