Retiring to Kalkan/Turkey- Would you given the opportunity?

[jinfizzz]

Your life sounds wonderful Lantana.  I''m very envious too.

[felicity]

Me too Lantana - what a wonderful posting - very envious - your life sounds just like I would like/imagine mine to be..!!   

[limetree]

For the last few years we have both been telling everyone how we can''t wait to pack up work and go to Kalkan for good.  We now have the opportunity as my husband has taken voluntary redundancy, we have sold our house in the UK, and have a few £''s in the bank.  However, taking the step is proving to be very difficult.  It is as if we have got this far and all of a sudden all the "negatives" keep coming into mind...how will we keep ourselves busy, are we too young (mid 40''s), will we drink too much, will we fit in etc., etc., etc.,
We purchased our lovely villa in 2004 and I often find myself day dreaming about the garden and wondering how tall the bougainvillea has got and whether the palms have survived in the pots that Soloman said wouldn''t (which I am sure he knows best).  Although I am still working, I too am getting fed up with sales targets and the general pressure of the sales industry I am in but again, worry that I might be leaving the UK for the wrong reasons.  So, the answer to your question is it''s not an easy decision to make...and I honestly  thought I would never be saying this.  All our friends and family keep telling us we should go, as someone has already said you only live once.  We both love Kalkan and hate it when we have to come home but do we love it enough?? OMG, I can feel a sleepless night coming on!...what this space folks...will keep you all posted...

[jayne]

Limetree, Why don''t you give it a try few a few months? you could always come back if it didn''t work out. Could you take a career break from the company you work at?

One thing you should consider if your move was more permanent, is would you be prepared to return if things changed in the future? For example elderly parents needing you, arrival of grandchildren (sorry I don''t know your personal situation but I''m the same age and these are the things I would think about).

Very best of luck though, whatever you decide

[sally]

Lantana,that was so interesting to hear about your life. May I ask if  you speak Turkish well? I''m asking as to me that would be a pre-requesite  of living in a country. And I note that you have worked in Turkey - so it''s a bit different from what we were contemplating which was retiring to a foreign country. When I was younger (much - ) I lived & worked in France for  a few years & had I stayed on there I would probably be retired there now (but would not have met my OH). I do envy you your life in Kalkan but I don''t think we (personally) could have taken it on in retirement.

[RosiB]

Lantana

That was wonderful! You wrote about everything we love about Kalkan, and I wish you joy in your life there.

Much as I love being in Kalkan, though, it''s still always going to be my place to escape to; I''ll stay here in the UK so that I''ll have something to escape from!!!!

Ros

[Cosetta]

We came first to Kalkan in 1990 and retired here in 2003. But we continue to spend the winters in other countries.  In 2003 there was not much open in Kalkan in the winter, all of our friends were leaving, our children who live in Morocco could not afford to come to Kalkan with their families, my husband wanted to play golf and I was still playing a lot of tennis, we wanted to be near good medical and veterinary facilities at least some part of the year, so eventually after spending winters in Italy, France, Mexico and Spain, we finally bought a small seaview apt way up in the Elviria hills to the east of Marbella.

I agree with all that Lantana said, there are many things to learn and explore using Kalkan as a base.  Like others have said, I have always tried to learn the language of the country I lived in and to integrate as much as possible.  In Italy this was so much that I literally forgot a lot of English vocabulary.

However, after several hundred hours spent on learning Turkish, for the first time ever I feel it will be a formidable task to become fluent (must be my age!), whereas with only 6 weeks of Spanish I can easily communicate with people.  Fortunately, all our Turkish friends speak English and I can speak enough Turkish to get along but not to have an interesting discussion.

Contrary to most of you who would like to retire, I would like to work!  Retirement for me is boring and unstimulating no matter how I fill the time.  I do miss the silversmithing classes I took in Boston, I do miss concerts and NPR radio, but to compensate, we have many more friends in several countries than we ever had working in Boston.  Life has become much more social and relaxing that stimulating and exciting.

[Kim]

Hi Feds,

Enjoyed reading your aspect on life in Kalkan as it is something we consider on a regular basis.  I am not sure whether we could do a full move; more like 6-8 months each year.  We would undoubtedly keep our UK house on and have the choice of coming back if we need to for family / friends / potential work for the OH on a very minimal basis.

Last time we deposited a sum of money into our bank account in Kalkan, we were told that we would be earning in the region of 11% intereest.  When we checked our balance 8 months later, the bank told us that the government had changed the system and that we did now not have an interest account?  We were too green to check any of this out, but had been told by others that there is an account paying up to 15%.  It seems as if this is the case, if you are already enjoying this facility and we would certainly like to transfer some funds across, if we are entitled to as we won''t be living there permanently.

I would welcome your advice on banks and options if you would not mind dropping me a PM.

Enjoy the Kalkan spring as we have had cold stormy weather of late!  Not having been back since Sept 07, we are due out in May so are looking forward to coming ''home''.  We have just returned from a fantastic week in the Red Sea with temps in the 30''s, beautiful beaches and fabulous clear dive conditions.  However.....it ain''t Kalkan!  The ''Magic'' simply isn''t there.

[Lorretta]

That was a wonderful post by the feds. The bit about management speak had me in tears of laughter!
Good luck to you both. I love your positive outlook.

[Serendip]

I''m almost there Lantana!  Se you soon

Serendip

[Em1]

Hi
In respect of an earlier message on this topic, some people are lucky enough to know a good thing when they see it, in this case retiring and spending much more time in Kalkan...even if that be in 20 years time!

Some people know where they would like to retire to immediately they see it, and some need more time to thing about things.

However that does not mean that one way of thinking is better or worse than the other, or they have not thought of many of the issues that will be faced in detail.
Em

[sue1945]

Lantarna, I have just been very moved by reading your account of your life in Kalkan, I think you are really lucky as both of you seem to be of the same mind, I bought a beautiful villa in the Tuscan mountains 6 years ago I loved it but David my husband hated everything about it, his heart was and always will be in UK. The house is sold now and we have just bought in Kalkan a holiday home we both love Kalkan and have been visiting for the last 8 years and who knows maybe in time!!!

[Lantana]

Hi Sue 1945
 You are absolutely right, if you are part of a couple, both of you must be equally committed to and enthusiastic about your choice of lifestyle. Making a choice that suits one half but not the other is quite a risk, they might be won over, but equally might not. For us, the real motivator behind our decision was a love of Turkey and a belief that we could fit in with the culture.

The culture shock of the move to Turkey has been minimal, we have both been lucky enough to live in a number of different countries all our working lives so have had many years learning to adapt to different environments. The real shock has been life in a small village, nothing could have prepared us for the intimacy. When we first moved here, there were 8 permanent British residents (including ourselves) Naturally enough, we were all a source of constant amusement and interest to the Kalkan villagers. At that time we lived in the village (we are now 3 kilometres outside) and realised very early on that our concept of privacy and British reserve had no place here.

On one occasion, when I had quite severe food poisoning, the local doctor arrived with 5 male colleagues. I was very impressed. Such an abundance of medical expertise for a routine illness. The doctor spoke very good English. His colleagues spoke none, so every intimate question he asked me had to be translated for their benefit. They all had ideas about the cause of my complaint and conflicting ideas about the cure. They wanted extraordinary detail - which for the benefit of the squeamish I will omit here. Then, diagnosis and cure finally agreed amongst themselves they prepared to leave.

When I commented on how pleased I was to have so much medical attention, the doctor was rather bemused and explained that when he got my call, he had just been about to set off on a fishing trip and these were his fellow fishermen who had all wanted to come along to meet the foreigner. Not even a first aid certificate between them.

For days afterwards, wherever I went in the village, people asked after the state of my stomach.

For me, getting used to the idea that virtually everything we do is public knowledge within hours is far more challenging than coping with the complexities of the language or battling with local bureauocracy.

But as I write this at eight in the morning, on a beautifully sunny day, I take great pleasure in the fact that even at this relatively early hour, I have been greeted by three neighbours, had a discussion with the bread delivery driver about the weather (crazy,  must be the fault of the Americans he claims) bought my fresh yogurt from the milk man and been sent a packet of seeds and a huge bag of salad by somebody I have  never met but who lives nearby, because they had heard that I had admired their garden. What can beat that for life''s simple pleasures?

So perhaps in time you and David may feel that this is a place where you could both be happy. Living here doesn''t mean we don''t love the UK, we do, we just get far more from life here and live a life of simple pleasures but constant joy.

We do hope you will be very happy in your holiday home
 regards
 Lantana

[Blue Lizard]

my mrs went to DR cem for a bite that went nasty and made her ankle swell up...the dr was about to give her a shot up the bum,then we realised the taxi driver was still with us facinated by it all!! .wonder if he goes fishing?

[Lantana]

I''m sure he does now

 Lantana

[sue1945]

What a great gift you have for descriptive writing, Have you thought of spending some of your time writing a book or a column? You could possibly start a news sheet for Kalkan lovers. I too spent many years living and working all over the world, but David has always lived in the same small town only two houses whilst I have had 29.
Yesterday we attended a family funeral there were almost 500 peole there who all appeared to know each other, if not directly related. So it can have its ++++++''s.
Me, well I will be lucky if there are 20 at mine, but not to worry about it I won''t know

[Lantana]

I am not sure if this is a topic which will be of interest to most people but we have decided to be buried here, hopefully not for a very long time. There is already a small non-Muslim cemetery adjacent to the village cemetery and it has wonderful views.(For the enjoyment of visitors rather than those staying there permanently).

Burials in a Muslim country take place within 24 hours of the death, in practice, this usually means on the same day.  The local mosques call out the name of anybody who has died, and announce the time of the funeral. Here in Kalkan, only men attend the funeral but that is not always the practice in other parts of the country.

The body is placed in the ground without a coffin, wrapped in a shroud. You return to the earth as you came into the world, without any worldly goods. Having read in The Times the other day that the average cost of a funeral in the UK is now over £5,000, I like the idea of a simple burial so much better.

Lantana

[sally]

A sad topic, Lantana but one that I think we should all consider. It makes things so much easier for the relatives who are left if they know what the deceased would have wanted.

[turkeyfan]

Very interesting Lantana.  After a person dies is cremation an alternative or is burial the only option?

[Lantana]

Hi Turkeyfan
 Unless you are prepared for a little d-i-y barbecueing, at the moment, cremation is not an option. However as you know, products and services here are constantly evolving to meet the needs of the growing foreign permanent resident community. I would imagine that before too long it will be an option in the larger cities.  So for anybody looking for a surefire (pardon the pun) business opportunity, opening Turkey''s first crematorium could be it.
Lantana