Turkey really is a great country to live in

” I don’t post a lot about Turkey on my timeline. If I did that, 90% of it would be about Turkey. It really is a great country to live in.

Before I got here, on my last assignment with the US Air Force, I expected deserts, camels, and veiled women. I soon found that Turkey has no deserts, no camels (except the ones tourists can sit on to have their photo taken), and no veiled women. OK, some wear headscarves. At any rate I was embarrassed by my ignorance. When it was time to return to San Diego and retire, I just couldn’t. I stayed another year. Then another. Then ten or so more. Turkey is much like the United States, and the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts remind me of California.

Gulet Cruise and Sailing

But it is much more affordable to live here. The people are, for the most part, the most hospitable and friendly I have encountered. I have now been running a site about Turkey for the last ten or so years, trying to help people understand the country. Even the “Rough Guide to Turkey” book recommends it and the US Library of Congress links to it. But what’s best about the site is its members. Foreigners who have been living here for a while, and also Turks.

They help people who are new to Turkey or who have problems or issues here. Even Turkish lawyers join in to answer legal questions. All of them do it for the satisfaction of helping somebody else. And sometimes, those new people who were helped, end up helping those who come after them. This is what I am doing with my life… ”

By Ken Grubb, San Diego, CA – USA

Photography by Sinan S. Unsal (Marmaris Yalancıboğaz & Yacht Marine)