does anyone know..

[Scunner]

Ha ha

Just being honest Kevin. It is a wonderful experience and one people should all seriously consider trying. But it does have it's frustrations and negatives. Even I moved there thinking I was moving from a dying country to heaven on Earth and it is important to know it soon slips from being that.

It reminds me of an Australian ex-pat saying about moving to there..."Same s**t, shinier bucket"  

[Kevin Sowten]

"Same s**t, shinier bucket"  precisely - that's true wherever you live - but the s**t here in
UK costs an awful lot more with very little in the way of positives.
Making a list of positives and negatives I know where we would rather be.

[Scunner]

One of the things nearly all ex-pats notice (certainly the ones I know) on returning to live in the UK is how cheap it is. Like I say, when the call comes you must follow it, I'm forever grateful for our time there. But making a list of positives and negatives, I know where I'd rather be too  

[echogirl1]

no chance of living in calis forever but will always enjoy our twice yearly visits until we are too old to manage it. There is a magic about the place that is very hard to define.  Have enjoyed many holidays in many places but returning to Calis and the bars and places we know is always superb.

[Menthol]

Well I have definitely heard 'the call'.

As I scour each property website and add yet another 'possible' to my list (and occasionally scrub one off when a bit of extra research shows that the 'beautiful covered terrace' actually looks over not just 'your private pool' but the huge Aqua Park Pool too...) I keep reminding myself that the bed of roses will have many thorns. That the grass on the other side may not be quite as green as I thought.

But then what? I'll be having an adventure and taking (dragging) my family with me. Are the frustrations in Turkey really any worse or just as bad but different? 

Things I've gleaned from this very forum so far (and I most certainly haven't read it all...it's VAST!)

The Turks and incoming Brits like their dogs
Those dogs like to bark a lot and snarl a lot at passers by
The roads keep getting dug up for no apparent reason
The footpaths keep getting dug up for no apparent reason
There's a lot of unnecessary dust (though dust is never necessary is it?)
The Turks build stupid bridges
Turkey is a good place to come and get good quality, cheap dental care
It floods in parts of Calis in winter but no one can ever say where exactly and one house can flood and the house just 5 yards away doesn't
Although all the streets are numbered, no-one ever refers to the street numbers when giving directions. Directions are given based on cafes, bridges, petrol stations, supermarkets and hotels.
There are excellent Estate Agents in Fethiye. I know who they are.
There are terrible Estate Agents in Fethiye. I do not know who they are.
Some of the best sunsets in the world occur in Calis.
People who enjoy these sunsets leave their bottle caps on the beach.
There are Turkish burglars, Turkish con men and Turkish Fish selling perverts
There are a very large amount of excellent Turkish people who become amazing friends
There are some British 'cougars' who live in/visit Calis.
Some of the nicest food ever is to be eaten in Turkey
Some of the worst food ever is to be eaten in Turkey
The most happening thing to occur in Uzumlu is the moving of goats from one pasture to another
British people living in Calis don't seem to trust people who put on music festivals
No-one who has ever lived in the Fethiye region has ever regretted it.


 

[Scunner]

All fairly correct except the Turks build stupid legendary bridges

[Jacqui Harvey]

We plan... Inshallah when Phil retires to spent more time in Calis probably April untll June and then September until November, but after having our Callis Home for eight years now, we do not want to live in Calis permanently. .
It's strange, because 7 years ago this was our plan, to move to Calis, but now, we want the best of both worlds and a foot in each country.
So my advice to anyone buying a property in the Calis area is, to buy it holiday there for a while and then make a decision on the future.

[Menthol]

I think that's good advice and probably will be exactly what we end up doing, Jacqui.

[Scunner]

I feel I am coming across as negative in this topic and I would like to say I am absolutely not. People who want to retire to Turkey not only SHOULD, they MUST! It is a life that suits some and not others and my experience is that even those who it does suit tend to return after a number of years, which wasn't the plan when they arrived. Us included.

I am forever grateful to Turkey and our time there, but the biggest lesson it taught me was how wrong my opinion of the UK was when I left it.

[Highlander]

but the biggest lesson it taught me was how wrong my opinion of the UK was when I left it.

Well said. If there is one thing I detest it's people who have moved abroad slagging off the UK.