The Adventures of D | Life's not about living happily ever after, it's about living.

29. August 2010

Para-falling

I never thought my Bucket List would be my Death Wish. But, early Saturday morning in Fethiye, I nearly died. I should have known better. I had been talking about paragliding in Turkey since I started my trip. It seemed safe — you just run off a cliff and then float over the bluegreen gorgeous [...]

27. August 2010

4 Comments

Seeing stars

SCOTTY. I had never been happier to see someone walk down the hill as I was to see Scotty. “Hey there,” he said. I didn’t even let him finish introductions before I grabbed him, pulling him into a hug and expressing just how glad I was he was there I quickly filled him in on [...]

26. August 2010

4 Comments

A final note on Kusadasi

A few days after departing Kusadasi, I thought everything was behind me. It pretty much was … until I was reunited with Claire in Olympos. I was sitting at the treetop bar, enjoying my last evening in my adult summer camp surroundings when she sat next to me. “Claire! Hi!” I squealed as she took [...]

25. August 2010

3 Comments

The Story of Mustafa

The first night at the restaurant when I met Mustafa, I thought he was nice. Ignorant, but nice. He had joked with my group of friends, had given me a discount card, had been friendly and welcoming. The perfect example of the famed Turkish hospitality. I immediately liked him. Then, he told me the story [...]

24. August 2010

6 Comments

Running Scared

After a couple of hours at the beach, I went back to the hotel to shower and do some writing. I tried to sneak back into the hotel, I didn’t want to see Murat’s beady little eyes glaring at me. Fortunately, he was sleeping on the couch, so I didn’t have to talk to him. [...]

23. August 2010

14 Comments

Congrats, you’re hired; Sorry, you’re fired

I thought the offer of free room, food and drinks in exchange for work at the hotel in Kusadasi, Turkey sounded too good to be true. It was. There were so many warning bells going off in my head when I accepted the job, and unlike the good (and safe) traveler I normally am, I [...]

20. August 2010

2 Comments

All aboard …

It was way too early when I woke up to head to the Fez office to catch my bus. The sun had just risen and the clock hadn’t even pushed 6:15 a.m. when I strapped and hooked my bag to me and headed down those old cement stairs and through the carpet shop to take [...]

19. August 2010

8 Comments

Playing tourist in Turkey

The smells … the colors … the people flooding in and out of the ancient Spice Market in Istanbul was overwhelming. After my decidedly non-tourist day watching a movie the day before, Joe and I planned a perfect tour of Turkey for the following day. We met early in the morning at Harmony, planning to [...]

18. August 2010

6 Comments

Getting my K-Stew, R-Patz and Taylor Lautner fix

I woke up the next morning in Harmony Hostel and went upstairs to get breakfast — a traditional plate including one hard-boiled egg, slices of tomato and cucumber, black olives and big, fluffy pieces of white bread with jam. During breakfast, I began to talk with two Kiwi girls about our plans for the day. [...]

17. August 2010

4 Comments

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

“Ooooh … Istanbul … so lush,” Gemma had exclaimed before I departed from Spain to Turkey. In my mind, there was something so exotic about Turkey, some mystical, magical place where Europe hit Asia with thunder. Arriving into Istanbul, I was far from disappointed. When I boarded the Havas bus at the airport (I flew [...]

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