Sometimes at the start of a trip I’m apprehensive because I haven’t done enough preparation, assimilated much of the language, or have any clue where I’m going. Sometimes it’s a chore just getting on and off the plane, figuring out the currency, arranging transport.
The more I travel, the less I sweat these details. Getting through airports is no big deal (especially compared to the days of travelling with kayaks, paddles, and gear). Picking up a visa, going through passport control, immigration, customs. No worries. The wheels of bureaucracy grind at about the same pace everywhere.
Now I try to settle in and get into the mindset of being in a new place as quickly as possible. So far, this has been very easy. I’ve already witnessed the famous hospitality of the Turks and I haven’t even finished crossing the Atlantic. Numbers exchanged, invites extended. Amazing.
On the plane an older gentleman told me how he likes to talk to people. He said we can’t just sit there with our nose in the air, we miss life when we do that. There’s the birth, then the living, and then the dying. That is it. The borning, the living, then dying.”
Fortuitous traffic accidents extended the minibus ride from the airport into a circuitous tour of Sultanahmet- Blue Mosque, Topkapi palace, the Spice Market, the Fish Market, views of Gallata Tower, the Bosphorous, and the Asian side. A prefect introduction.
