Off to Istanbul

This evening at 7:40 I fly to Istanbul. After a stop in Amsterdam, I will arrive sixteen hours later and eight time zones eastward of Minnesota. Then I’ll have to figure out how to do stuff in Turkey, which will no doubt take some time. I have six weeks and a Turkish phrase book, though so far the only word I know is “merhaba,” or hello.

All winter I’d planned to go abroad once the semester ended, but I couldn’t decide where…. I did know that I wanted to go for a longish walk. I considered Nepal, but summer is monsoon season. The Camino again in Spain? Well, I preferred something new. I finally settled on Turkey, just a month ago, because of the Lycian Way, a walking path in the southwest of the country, through mountains and along the Mediterranean coast, 500 kilometers from Fethiye to Antalya. My plan is to poke about Istanbul for a few days, then take a bus down to Fethiye and start the walk.

But as usual when on the verge of a trip I’m a little reluctant to go. The couple weeks since the end of school have been lovely, and I am sad to leave behind my people and my bicycle. Wherever I am next Friday I will be wistful.

But the point is to get out in the world and look around. My home is most comfortable, my family and friends my favorites, and I might wonder early on, so what am I doing here? But I expect to get some answers eventually.

I also assume that the internet is widely available in Turkey, like most places in the world. Ideally I’d post every day (writing is especially essential for solo travel), but that’s unlikely, especially on the walk. If you read along, write me short notes back, and then imagine me at some internet café on the other side of the world getting a little choked up when I see your name.