Turkey 2021
The Beginning of a New Era
My trip to Turkey was my first time abroad since 2020 when I was in Italy with the School Year Abroad programme. After months of longing to leave the US and resume my passion for travel and adventure, I finally got the chance…and what a way to start. I was in Turkey for a month. It was my first time in the country and I had an absolute blast experiencing the rich culture and learning about the unique history. There were many “firsts” I did in this trip, such as paragliding and mountain zip lining. These just made the experience even more memorable and exhilarating.
Few countries have a history like Turkey’s. The land that is now Turkey has been home to many peoples throughout history. The Greeks, Romans, Persians, Hittites, and of course the Turks have all lived there. Each civilisation has lefts its mark. And while the history of the land is ancient, the history of Turkey as a nation is quite recent, having only been founded in 1923.
The easiest way to describe the culture is that it is fundamentally Turkic but with influences from various other cultures, primarily Greek and Iranian. You find the Greek influence primarily in Western Turkey, especially along the coast, but as you go further east, you would find more of an Iranian or Levantine influence. Islam also has a big influence in the culture, with it being the largest religion in the country.
What struck me as I explored Turkey was just how naturally diverse it was. You can find white sand beaches surrounded by turquoise water, mountain ranges covered in trees of all kinds, acres of countryside laden with fields of golden wheat crops, and even a desert landscape with the most interesting rock formations. Very few countries have such a variety of different landscapes.
My trip to Turkey was the beginning of an era that will be full of adventure. It was a trip that further deepened and broadened my love for travel and that instilled within me the urge and the mission to explore more of this world’s lands in the future. The following posts are on every city I visited in the country. They are all in chronological order and are packed full of the background of each city and my personal thoughts on them and some suggestions if you happen to visit these places. Be sure to visit the Turkey and More page where I get into more detail about specific places I visited. The button can be found below. There’s still so much of Turkey I have not seen. But I look forward to exploring the rest of the country in the future and writing all about it!
