Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Calis Beach Forum => Calis Beach Questions and Information => Topic started by: Ian on January 05, 2008, 18:58:02 PM
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I can't stop thinking / planning (17 months to go) and longing to go back to Turkey - Gill says it is close to being obsessive!
Is that how you all felt before you quit the rat race???
Just some pictures all taken on Christmas Day that make the North West look pretty grim!!!
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/ian2006/Dec%202007/IMG_0073.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/ian2006/Dec%202007/IMG_0111.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/ian2006/Dec%202007/IMG_0120.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/ian2006/Dec%202007/IMG_0080.jpg)
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Hi Ian
Yes I am exactly the same Derek loves it there too, but he thinks I am obsessive about wanting to be there all the time, roll on five years time when we will be going out either to live or at least for a long period of time.
Booked flights for our next trip in April last night and it seems like ages away!
Regards Karen
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Karen - it is really odd because it is like "wishing your life away" but I have had enough of the same old routines in the UK and long for my own "gap year" to start with at the age of 56!!!
I have 4 children who all went through University and they all had gap years - so now it's my turn!!
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Hi again Ian
You are quite right it is like wishing your life away! Sometimes I think I wish I had never gone to Turkey in the first place,because I want to be there all the time!I went for the first time 15 months ago and found myself buying an apartment 3 months later (I have never done anything so rash in my life!)the thing is I want to be there all the time, but can not at present due to my children and work, I too am going to definetly have a"gap" year in 4 years time!
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Karen - we were exactly the same - in fact NEVER wanted to go to Turkey but went to look at what for us was "affordable property" and I thought well lets go and then discount it!
We got there and absolutely loved the place and the people.
Booked for March - May (when we get married in Fethiye) - August and waiting for January 2009 flights to book then - so my 17 months has some "highs" in it!!! :D
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Ah that is lovely getting married in Turkey good luck with the wedding.
I only went to visit my cousin who lives in Calis for four days and by day two I was saying I wanted to get a place out there.
It all went through and we became the owners in May like you said we just love the place and the people and the slow pace of life in Turkey.
Good luck with the wedding plans I hope it all goes smoothly for you both.
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We were looking at three and a half years still till we could make it permanent, six months ago I decided to see how my pension would change if I retired early. I got the figures and they were ok, so house was put on the market and 6 months later here we are.
Been here just over 2 weeks, opened bank accounts and got tax numbers on Christmas day and have bought a place (we will live on our boat until it is finished in about 3 weeks time) also bought a car. We are now furniture hunting.
Have been waiting around 11 years now to take this step, but once our house was sold everything has happened so quickly, and we are enjoying every minute.
Baz 8)
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Baz - really pleased for you - it sounds like you were getting to the edge of a steep drop and then decided to jump!
Can't wait to join you - but unfortunately my 17 months is set in stone - a few weeks ago it was 3 years - then after some re-jigging it became 2 years and now May 2009.
As much as I try even I can't cut / save a penny more to make it happen sooner [:(!]
Enjoy your new life to the hilt :)
Ian
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Go for it. We sat down and crunched the numbers 18 months ago and now my resignation is going in tomorrow (3 months). We will do four months in Turkey from the end of April and then we are off to NZ and China in 2008/9. Back to Turkey in 2009, and then who knows? All the furniture has been sold/ given away/ thrown away, books, ornaments and pictures in my sisters loft and we are now living in a one-bedroomed flat following the house sale in November. I don't like the thought of wishing my life away but the next three months will be a struggle!
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Wow how fantastic it's so good to hear of others who have similar plans we have been going to Turkey 3 times a year for the past 13 years. 2 years ago we bought our place near Calis and we dream of making the great escape I will take a career break from work, when our house sells and we will be off to our place in the sun for initially 3 months whilst we think of the long term plan. Some family and friends say we are being irresponsible but hay it's our lives and life is too short . I don't want to get to 80 and talk about what I wish i had done. Good luck to anyone who takes the plunge. We had someone view our house a few weeks ago and as they left they said we are really interested in buying your house. Well me and hubby lookedc at each other and said S##t its giong to happen....Bring it on
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It's great to read about so many other people making exactly the same plans as us for the future.
We came to Turkey for the first time 15 months ago, to Kalkan (beautiful!). It was our Silver Wedding Anniversary and we wanted to go away for a fortnight for the first time on our own, having had four kids. My boss wouldn't give me the second week off work, so my husband decided to use the money and buy me a car instead of the holiday. To cut a long story short, we bought a car off a bloke who had a villa in Kalkan, and, on hearing our reason for buying the car, he kindly offered us the villa for a week in October 2006. We had a fabulous time in the most amazing villa on the mountains, and decided to bring our kids back for our summer holiday in 2007.
We chose Calis as it looked as though there would be more for the kids to do than there was in Kalkan, as much as we loved it there. We put our house on the market, and downsized. Very unexpectedly, we put a deposit down on an apartment on the last day of our holidays (I too have never been this rash before!). We have been back again since, and now I seem to spend all my time looking at flights and planning the next 3 or 4 visits!
We plan to retire early (in a few years time) and make the move on a semi-permanent basis. It's so good to read of other people's similar plans. Aren't we all just so lucky? (I feel like I have won the lottery every time I look back at the photos of our beautiful apartment - I just can't believe what we have done!) It's a dream come true for me, and obviously for a lot of other people too.
Julie
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It is good to know you are not waiting on your own!
This time next year................who knows.........
Ian :)
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Hi Heather. Did the couple come back for your house? Anne
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Same here, there's not a day goes by that I don't think about the place. It's like the excitement you feel when you fall in love with someone for the first time, expect my love affair with Turkey has lasted for years so far and hasn't shown any signs of abeiting.
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Steve - I wouldn't want us "men" to show our emotions - particularly if you are from "Up North" but your description is spot on! 8)
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Ian, glad you sorted out those photos. They weren't showing up earlier (unless it was just me!). They are great and make us wish even more that we were there too! Julie
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Julie - I saved them into a new folder on photobucket and that meant the http address was incorrect as I had moved them - but sorted it once I saw they had gone :)
Ps I was told about photobucket by someone on the forum and it really is useful and free!!!
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:)Up to now I have just been reading this thread, but have to say I wish all of you all the happiness you deserve, I am quite happy to get my annual Calis fix, but that usually ends up quite extended anyway,they say where there's a will there's a way and I hope you enjoy it to the full. ;)
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addiction, obsession, call it what you will, but its certainly got us too !. We have been holidaying in Turkey for several years and used to dream about owning our home over there one day. During a dull moment at work a couple of years ago, I was just looking through properties on the web, (like you do !) and found our little dream stone house, and it just happened to be in uzumlu. (We had stayed in Fethiye several times, at Lykia and Letoonia). My husband flew out that weekend, and the rest is history as they say ! It will be several years before we are able to move across on a more permanent basis as my daughter is in those horrid teenage years of GCSE's etc. But we hope, and plan, to be there in 5 - 7 years time. In the meantime, we just have to cope with a few trips a year. Problem is, once I'm back in the UK, I simply pine to be back in Turkey and I count the days to the next trip (8 weeks, 4 days.... ;)). We are so lucky.
The view from my bedroom balcony.........this is what keeps me going !
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x225/pookiemunro/CNV00005.jpg)
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Laffa - is it true your annual fix lasts for 6 months? :)
Seriously I can't explain it - most of us seem to be sensible, mature people who come from a generation that don't just "pack up and go". Pookie is a good example - must wait until it is time for the family / children / parents etc etc
I wonder if - like me - most have towed the line - paid our taxes been good citizens and after 30 years (ish) of working hard we have suddenly realised life is passing us by and politicians of all parties are cynically using what we (too few) are putting into the system for others (too many) to take out???
And then when we go 33 miles per hours at midnight on a road with no other cars - they throw the book at you!!!!
And a friend of my mothers who is 80 has been looking after her husband who started with Parkinsons 5 years ago. After 2 years she couldn't cope anymore so she asked for help and the advice has resulted in the following:
1. Care is £650 per week
2. We can have your husbands works pension and state pension
3. You can afford to contribute £100 per week as you have £18000 savings
4. We will add up the difference (approx £200 per week) and when you sell your council house - that you worked all your life to pay for - we will deduct what we are owed plus interest.
The friend said to my mum "my savings have as good as gone now - so I have to watch when I put the heating on"
This man fought in the 2nd world war - what sort of a society have we created!!!!
Sorry - I went off on one - now I understand why I want to do what's good for me!!!
Ian
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That's disgusting Ian and so typical of what we hear about too much in this country. I would like to get out of England while I am still young enough to enjoy some life (43 years young). At the moment I too am having a love affair with Turkey, but have commitments here with 13 year old son and his education. However I do dream about having a new life in Turkey, could I possibly move my son to another country to be educated? Already tried this in South Africa, very bad choice! Wasn't my decision that one. No longer with husband that made that choice for us (left him in South Africa)! I guess there is no perfect country or Eutopia but Turkey certainly seems to come quite close to it. I admire all of you who take the plunge and I do believe that dreams can become a reality and that if you want anything enough you can make it happen. But for now I must content myself with 2 hols a year and possibly a longer stay next year and then who knows!! :)
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Lindar - I am sure you will make it before too long.
Interestingly you listen to some who have moved young children out and one of the plus points is the standard of education.
I was over at Christmas and often use the Tas Firin at lunchtime opposite the schools in Fethiye and it is quite pleasing to see well behaved children in uniforms coming in for their lunch.
I know they will not all be well behaved BUT there does seem to be an inbuilt respect for authority / elders and personal property and any system that does that gets my vote!! :)
All the best
Ian
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:)Ours is a long story Ian, but bottom line is if at all possible we would stay 6 months a year, or 2 x 3 mths. ;) As they say you never know your luck in the big city. ;)
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quote:
Originally posted by Ian
And a friend of my mothers who is 80 has been looking after her husband who started with Parkinsons 5 years ago. After 2 years she couldn't cope anymore so she asked for help and the advice has resulted in the following.....:
Whilst fully understanding the point you make Ian, can anyone on the Forum tell us what this woman's situation would be in Turkey, so that we can make an informed comparison.
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I am not sure it warrants comparison as the social services in both countries are more than likely at greatly differing levels of maturity.
It comes back to a welfare state that asked for contributions from 2 people who worked all of their lives and paid a great deal of money into the system until they were both 65 on the basis that the State would take care of them - and now when they can do nothing about it - the state wants to be paid for its support because it is taking care of too many people that have paid or pay little or nothing into the system.
It stinks
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:)I agree, my father had parkinsons disease he worked all his life and had to retire early due to the progression of the disease in the meantime my mother who had also worked for as long as I can remember (being the youngest of 5) took ill with a brain tumour and eventually had to have long term care, they too were told to sell their house to pay for the care,I should explain the story fully for you to understand, but I dont want to appear like I am looking for the sympathy vote, basically the state gave them nothing and told them to sell their home, It sickens me to the core, and thats being polite, its a legal rip off,on the peole who have done so much for this country. (i'm on one now): :)
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Apologies Ian - I seem to have unintententionaly diverted your original interesting topic onto one on the Welfare State.
I'm sure we can discuss that elsewhere and would respectfully suggest that replies here are to Ian's original point which is certainly worthy of more discussion.
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Laffa - I feel for you - you seem to have very strong family values and I suspect that helped you get through - but it is still a disgrace and the worst thing is you are helpless to do anything about it.
Highlander - no problem at all and I take your point that we must not be deluded by rose tinted glasses - gosh we were cold at night at Christmas in our apartment even with the gas fire and the aircon on - so it is not all sunshine and roses!!
I suppose I am trying to understand what makes the urge so addictive for those of us who are counting the days.
Early in the post someone said 8 weeks 4 days (I think) - my other half tells me how many weeks to our next visit in the bathroom every morning! (we do shower as well as well as put the world to rights in that morning ritual)
I think we are generally normal rational people - but we are hooked - selling houses - giving in notices - living on boats - counting daily - if this was one of my 4 children I would probably tell them to stop being silly.
So I still don't understand it - but I can't stop it?? :D
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Hi Anne No we didnt hear from that couple who showed an interest in our house but we remain hopeful as its a new year and people do start looking at buying now. I will keep everyone posted when anything happens as I will be asking for advise, support etc. This is the best place To come to check things out. Please keep your fingers crossed for us. The trouble with me is i am so impatient I want things to happen NOW. How are things going with you?
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I just want to say that things are not fair nor equal in this country. An example. There are 2 older people in need of residential or nursing care. One person saved all his/her life bought a property put money in the bank saving for a rainy day. The other person had a good time lived in rented accommodation never saved a penny. both now need care. Both are assessed by social services, both go into the same home the one who has savings and a property will pay the full weekly charge of say 400 pound per week the other person who has no savings and no property will pay a very small contribution from their pension. Both will
receive the same service. It doesnt pay anyone to save for their old age.
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Heather - hope your house sale comes off - and as regards saving for old age - when will politicians finally see that they need to deal with this issue.
Can't wait to hear from Baz - living on a boat - that takes courage in the winter - would love to hear when you move in?
Ah well - the addiction continues ! :)
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Hi Heather. Everything is brilliant thanks. The scenario U mentioned is exactly the same one as mine and Barrie's mother's. Mine has saved and worked all her life but Barrie's mum hasn't. She is the better off of the 2 now. Really hope that U sell soon. Easter is the best time for selling properties. I know how desperate u are to move here. Hi Ian. Not as cold as we were at the Nil's Hotel. I bet!! xx
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Anne - I have just got in from a meeting this morning with a Customer and 2 high flying Accountants - 3 of us had colds and were sniffling and blowing our noses throughout.
I am working from home this afternoon - looking out of the window - the sky is grey - the rain is icy - the outlook is bleak!
I 'll swap places if you will !!! ;)
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I did think about it Ian but noooooo!!! thanks. We were nearly your neighbours by the way. We viewed at Lemon 3 when it was a concete slab. My you do sound depressed these days. Hardly surprising when all U can think about is us over here in the sun. Won't be long now hopefully.
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Anne - that would have been good.
We are really pleased with our purchase - the immediate area is taking shape - new builds for locals etc - a new road surface and we are told a primary school to be built 200 yds away which I think is great.
We are close enough to walk to the Otogar (suprisingly some good inexpensive lokantas in that area) where I intend to make many of my 2 / 3 day backpacking trips from - we have an ALDA and a GEMPA within easy walking distance and on a not so hot day - we walk into town!
We have one owner moving there full time in March and he has a keen interest in making the gardens nice - so all in all - wonderful!!
Oh no the rain is hitting the windows now like little stones - I need a fix - when are AEGEAN releasing next winters flights!!!! :)
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You will read it first here Ian. Late March anyway.
After I book mine, I'll post it ;)
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I could have sworn it was earlier than that in 2007 - in fact I thought it was January - you and the mods are not getting privileged access before we masses get a chance are you?? :D
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Certainly not.
Just me lol
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Ah well - that seems reasonable - as without your forum I would have no outlet for my addiction and would probably implode !!!! I suspect this thread has run it's course ??? :)