Turkey
II.II.III
TURKEY
Having reached an all-time record of burnout, I just had to get away from it all. Jacqueline and I agreed we’d both take a week off – and while that week at work without the other would probably drive us insane, we figured a reset was in both our best interests.
It was right around this time that Akash – a guy with whom I had sparked up a conversation on Tinder years before – told me he had an extra flight ticket to Turkey. Being a travel agent, he already had a whole itinerary set up, meaning I could just tag along with him and his friends without having to do anything apart from showing up. That was music to my ears, and the second he proposed the idea, I could practically envision him with a halo and wings.
By that point, I could hardly remember the last time I’d been abroad. In fact, I had to scroll through my photos just to figure out where I’d last travelled. It turned out to be a short trip to Rome and Florence back in February 2020 – right before the COVID-19 pandemic practically imprisoned us on our tiny island. Travel restrictions followed only a few weeks later. Be that as it may, ever since I’d started working, I’d hardly had any time to breathe – let alone book a trip. My wanderlust had been replaced with workaholism, and that had to stop. I needed to get back out there. Turkey felt like the opening I’d been waiting for.
Right before the trip, Akash organised a dinner for his friends and me to break the ice. Tagging along would be Zara (AKA Kim Kardashian), her boyfriend Rohan (The Foodie), Manish (the IT whizz), and Kamal (our very own personal chef). All of them were from Kerala and had been living in Malta for a couple of years. Over dinner, we got to know each other, and by the end of the night, it already felt like we were family. They seemed genuinely fascinated by everything I had to say, and I happily reciprocated the interest – especially when they told me about their wild adventures and outdoorsy lifestyles back in India.
I felt right at home with these people, and I’d already heard amazing things about Turkey. All in all, it was shaping up to be one hell of a trip.