I’m staying in Batumi, in an old apartment that has been turned into a hostel. The walls are almost twice as high as a person, and they are covered in wood panels. I mostly stay put on a couch, reading, having trail mix and tea, playing Mario Kart, listening to the sound of heavy rainfall […]
Everything happens so quickly. The bus door opens and closes, the engines start humming, then a stream of familiar places rushes by outside of the window. Sometimes I think of a person whom I’ve met here or there, or of a cat or a dog. Every time we go through a tunnel I find myself […]
I wake up late, and when I do, I remember my dreams. There were two. The first was about me arriving at my home on my final day of walking. There was a sense of relief that I had made it, but there was also a sense of panic that I had forgotten something. The […]
I spend my day doing something I dread: I plan things. I plan Georgia, Germany, Christmas, New Year’s, storage facilities, train tickets, plane rides, doctor’s appointments, etc. etc. In the evening, when my head is about to explode, I have dinner topped off with sütlac, then I get on a minibus to Atakum. A friend […]
My visa-free stay in Turkey is coming to an end, and so I need to get out of here for a few months. The Caboose is staying in a friend’s garage, I’m boarding a bus back south to Samsun. Looking out of the bus window feels like rewinding a video-tape and watching the story unfold […]
Sinop, they say, is famous for being Turkey’s happiest city. Why are people so happy here? Maybe because Sinop is located quite beautifully on a peninsula in the Black Sea. Maybe because the climate is less rainy than in the eastern parts of the coast. Maybe because there are literally no traffic lights in all […]
When I step outside to breathe the morning air, Korsan, the dog, is still asleep. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to get up because two of his friends are resting on top of him. Mustafa has prepared breakfast: fried eggplant, zucchini, and potato, toasted bread, fresh tomatoes, strawberry jam, honey, cheese, boiled eggs, and […]
Staying in Lala felt like staying with a whole village rather than a single family. Everyone knew each other, everyone was always visiting the others’ homes, and the meals were lively gatherings. Also, it was the weekend, and those who lived in the city had returned to the village to spend time with their families. […]
When I leave Gerze, I notice a few buildings that look like they might be old. Or maybe they’ve just been reconstructed. One of them is a large, empty villa that seems like it might get razed soon. Destroyed, as my friend Hairullah from Bafra would put it with a sweeping gesture. The road rolls […]