Any DNs out there or have lived there for more than a year that also lived in SEA?
Tell me about the cost of living compared to Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines…etc. What about visas? And the food? Healthcare? People?..
Turkey is my number one. Istanbul is hands down my fav place in the world
Was only there for a few weeks, but it is an absolutely fascinating country. The Ottoman Empire was one of history’s great societies, and if you have an interest in the origins of human civilization, you will get more bang for your buck sightseeing in Turkey than nearly any other country on Earth.
Haven’t lived in Turkey for a year, but have spent 4 months there cumulatively over a few trips. Lived in SEA for 6 years too.
Turkey is more expensive than SEA for the most part, particularly over the past year or so as prices have gone up a lot due to inflation. Still though, it is a great value destination in comparison to Europe and much of the world. The food is amazing, locals very welcoming and kind, tons of diverse places to visit. With a US passport you can get an e-visa allowing you to stay 90 days out of 180. My only complaint is that internet can be a bit spotty at times. Overall it is one of my favorite countries of the 66 I have been to.
Theres Muslim people is now on trouble
I love Turkey. However I do not think that this is the way how you can get any useful information. You will just get some twitter-like horrendous stories of scams and people who spent there several days/weeks and did not get to know the culture or even several turkish words at all. As for cost of living, visas, healthcare, you can find this info objectively using google. The rest - subjective stories, will be IMO just typical stereotyping DN trends, like Chiang Mai is best, Bali is not what used to be, Lisabon is top etc. These are just fads. I do not like Lisabon and like e.g. Tunis, where 99% of DN will never come. I believe the only way is to come to the country and experience it. Again, I can only tell from my experience that I consider Turkey to be one of best option for DN (me being from Central Europe = even travel time is very convenient from Europe)
Few questions I have: could you lemme know your age, native country, and language?
Also curious if you already went to SEA? What city do you recommend in turkey for English only as a starting point? Istanbul?
Suggestion to also consider gender.
Two simple rules in Türkiye: buy good quality local shoes and wear a lapel jacket. Those two changes to my wardrobe made a huge difference to how I was treated in Türkiye. Random old men would ask me directions. Standing outside any shop young women would approach and ask questions. If you keep a plastic flour sifter poking out of your bag, no one will bother you.
Ottoman dishes are more Russian. Meze is more Mediterranean. Eat healthy, stick to the meze.
Right now inflation is at an all time high and there are so many Russians it blows the mind. It has put a big pinch on housing. That said, you can cook for yourself at SEA prices, particularly if you use the pazar (street market).
If in a big city, choose your neighborhood well and spend your week there. Venture out occasionally. Treat it like your village. If the village is not tourstic, the services will be 1980s grade.
If you keep a plastic flour sifter poking out of your bag, no one will bother you.
Please expand on this. And the lapels.
I also need to know more about this now
Lol i couldn’t read (or rather i was reading but couldn’t comprehend sh*t) after that
A generic suit jacket (ala lapels) is all you need. I discovered this wearing a dark color $2 thrift store coton jacket with a suit cut.
A cheap plastic flour sifter, maybe 15tl, can be aquired at any grocery. If you have such, you intend to make bread. If you make bread, you have an oven. No tourist has an oven.
Okay so I understand the sifter but why do you need a jacket? Just to look smart/ fit in?
Right now inflation is at an all time high and there are so many Russians it blows the mind
Yep, the influx of money driving up prices might be a reason to avoid Turkey right now, especially the touristic spots…
Turkey has a runaway inflation problem, and is also experiencing massive currency devaluation (the two are linked, I guess)
So in the end for a foreigner the prices could be relatively stable… and Istanbul was never cheap, for instance.
Food - it really depends on what you do. Do you eat a lot outside? Cheap street food gets boring fast - how many tajines can you eat in morocco before u crave something else? How many tacos in mexico? Unsurprisingly, the same will be true if you live eating kebabs.
If you do cook for yourself… a quick online search reveals that chicken breast is around 4 euros per kg, common veggies are less than .5 euros per kg, fruit not much expensive than that.
Healthcare: turkey is a medical tourism destination (esp dental, hair transplant, cosmetic surgery). There will be 1st world level services, at 1st world level prices.
More in general: I would not live in the central highlands, but large cities on the coast (with some expat presence) should be fine. Istanbul is one of my favorite cities, I googled it recently and remember you could book on airbnb cute aparments for 1 month for 600 eur or so (that would be near Kadıköy, on the Anatolian side, one of my favourite parts of the city)
great food, lovely people, excellent infrastructure, inflation& currency manipulation, a country that lives its own way and where its a pleasure to be in and spend your money.
Currently in Istanbul after 4 months in SEA (Bangkok, Hanoi, Da Nang). Absolutely floored by the kindness of the locals, quality of the food, and incredible affordability. We came in with low expectations, but it’s easily been our favorite DN spot so far.
No idea why it’s not higher on people’s radar tbh
You prefer Turkish food over the food in Asia?
Prefer? Probably not if we’re talking about restaurants and things like that. But imo the grocery stores are much better here, or at least more familiar to my palate.
Also, after spending a long time in a certain location, it’s just nice to get a change. So maybe it’s not a question of which is better overall, but rather which is better and more exciting right now, if that makes sense.
Did you apply to a Visa while in SEA?
Yes. We applied for an eVisa and got it sent to our email in like an hour. It cost $50 USD for 3 months multi-entry.
Recently a co working opened in Antalya by a Dutch guy. On the harbour, heard a lot of good stories about it. I’m heading there next week
Food is kinda bad. I thought I liked Turkish food until I went there. The Turkish food I’ve had outside of Turkey has been way better than what I could find in the actual country.
Anything that isn’t Turkish food, forget about it because it will likely be garbage.
People are rude and scammy in general.
You get what you pay for over there, compared to European prices. Personally I’d rather live in Europe even if it is slightly more expensive.
Man I have had such a different experience. Food in Turkey is amazing IMO, and outside of the extremely touristy areas I feel like it isn’t scammy at all.
I felt like it was even more scammy outside of tourist areas. I went on an adventure to the outskirts of Istanbul just to be welcomed by rude people and a hotel manager which stole $400 from me
That’s strange, I have spent long periods of time staying on the Asian side of Istanbul and have never had a bad encounter with a local. Also travelled through south eastern Turkey and only had positive experiences.
what’s strange about that? obviously not every single traveller is going to be scammed. But in some places it’s 1 in 10 and in others 1 in 1000?
Yes you are right that it is luck as to whether you become the victim of a scam or not, and some places it is more likely than others, I just find it strange because in many countries I have been to I have seen things like this regularly, but in my many visits to Turkey I haven’t.
Couldn’t agree with this more. Was sorely disappointed by Türkiye, very third world. In Malaysia now and it’s a paradise in comparison
This is an absolutely horrendous take. The food in turkey is fantastic!
I found Turkish food delicious and fresh, and the people even tho can be pushy in tourist areas, they are one of the most friendliest and welcoming people. I went the last two years and had a pleasant time, would recommend
I strictly oppose. Being from Central Europe, I have been to 20-30+ countries and Turkey cuisine is definitely one of the best in the whole region - mix of otoman, arabic, balkan, greek and many other influences. Only Chinese cuisine (or Italian) compare IMO. The best think is that Turkish foods are simple - we are not speaking here about hote cuisine, but simple perfect foods - street food is wonderful (e.g. simple pilaf). The only reason why you have so different experience IMO can be that you were somewhere in touristic places, where there are no actual locals.
People are absolutely friendly and helpful, even in metropole like Istanbul. In less people-heavy places even more. In villages - they will just take care of you. I do not understand your experience.
How long have you been/were there? It seems to me one week trip to Anatolia hotel chain or something like this, sorry.
You were in very touristy areas where scamming tourists is the industry. Food is way better in regular places where actual people live.
I lived in Istanbul (Gungoren) for three months.
After visiting 25 countries, it was the only place:
I was sexually assaulted
was never picked up by Uber after trying over 25 times during the day while seeing men be picked up and being assured Uber worked there,
was in the city when a terrorist bomb attack happened in a tourist areaI was also taken advantage of in a slimy way - also happened in other countries, but still.
It seems sexist and hypocritical.
I met a lot of pro-Trump Turkish people.(PS The sexual assault was on mass transit and was over the clothes thrusting - the train was so packed I could barely turn around and when I did I couldn’t identify who it was. )
I went there because the exchange rate was appealing and was game to experience some of the magic I was told I’d find there. I never once found anything magical about it, regardless of the other things. Food is very, very meat based - difficult to find healthy, veg options. Fun fact - they don’t have jacuzzis there, like in a health club, that both men and women can use. If they have them for women I never found one.
I met a lot of pro-Trump Turkish people.
That sounds like the only positive thing to say about the country.
You would be so stupid you think Trump is good.
Highly judgemental people who are terribly uniformed and don’t care to be informed is a dangerous cocktail that invites conflict.
Keep in mind that the WiFi isn’t always the best even in Istanbul, you can’t use a vpn in the country, and some hotels and cafes require you to input in a national ID number (which you won’t have) to use their WiFi.
If you decide to DN here, do your research on the WiFi reliability of places you decide to book. Email the properties asking about the WiFi speed. It was a surprise to me that this was even an issue since many of the major tourist areas are fairly modern.
… and some hotels and cafes require you to input in a national ID number (which you won’t have) to use their WiFi.
Wth! 😐
I would email the hotel or Airbnb beforehand to check
I’m not a full time nomad, but I’m on the end of a month long stay in Turkey and I find it incredible! I have been working the whole time, and it worked fine. The internet is worst the more east you go. Gaziantep was probably the worst, but it was manageable. The food is excellent and very cheap. Istanbul is world cuisine and more expensive, but still cheaper than São Paulo (my city of reference). You get a plate of good soup with unlimited bread for 2 dollars, no kidding. With 10 dollars you eat like a king in most places.
Can’t say much about visa and heathcare.