Urban sketch on Turkish Airlines flight home
Posted in Art Room Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Urban Sketching Trip to Turkey

Taking time to sketch visual reminders of our 4 weeks in Turkey.

Final look at our Turkey Home
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Goodbye Turkey Home

After 13 years I’ve packed out life into a storage unit and sold the house for the next adventure.

Blue and White Mandala Wall Mural
Posted in Alzheimer's Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Mandala Wall Mural to quiet the mind

Our Mandala bedroom wall mural, a joint effort that took a couple of weeks to complete but well worth the effort.

packing winter clothes away
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Our Turkish Return and Too Many Clothes

Returning to Turkey and a house full of clothes. I’m not sure whether to focus on unpacking or packing clothes away.

Waiting at the bus stop to travel to Bodrum
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Leaving Bodrum’s Blue Skies

Leaving Bodrum amid Blue Skies to start the first leg of our journey to Istanbul for an overnight stay.

Street Art in Bodrum Avenue Shopping centre
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Street Art, Shopping, and Starbucks

Street art of two kids on a bike in Bodrum’s Avenue Shopping Centre that I spotted when I stopped by for a Starbucks.

Provence Decor Maison & Cafe Yalikavak Bodrum
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Not so public transport to Yalikavak

This time of year on the Bodrum Peninsula is blissful. The tourists have all returned home and all we’re left with are the locals and expats. While some of the businesses have closed or have invoked winter opening hours, there’s still enough life left to keep us fed and entertained.

Red and Annie picking grapes
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Saved by Annie’s Grapes

Little did we realize that when we harvest grapes in the morning, that they’d be the same grapes that saved us from dehydration during an afternoon trip to the beach.

Tommy the Tortoise
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Herbie and I are not alone

House Sitting adventures in Turkey with Herbie the Cat and Tommy the Tortoise. I’m not sure who’s moving slower in this summer heat!

Gümüşlük Kofteci Kemal Bodrum
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Smoking in Public Places – Fire in Gümüşlük

I was enjoying a simple but tasty Turkish breakfast the other morning in Gümüşlük. Even there we’re in peak season…

Herbie trying to keep cool
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Herbie Rides Again!

House Sitting for Herbie again in Turkey .. amid searing heat and earthquakes. It’s nice to be back here, despite the shake, rattle and roll action.

Turkey Tales A Bodrum Travel Memoir in Verse
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

My Turkey Tales ebook is Free on Amazon

If you fancy a lighthearted read about Turkey – try my Turkey Tales, it’s available to download from Amazon. (and for a limited time only – it’s free).

Turkey Tales A Bodrum Travel Memoir in Verse
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Get notified when “Turkey Tales: A Bodrum Travel Memoir in Verse” is free to download

From Travel Guides to a Poetic Travel Memoir I write travel guides about the Bodrum Peninsula, and built a popular…

horses head in bed
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

The summer migration to Gumusluk

After a barren winter with barely a sighting of another human life form in the neighbourhood for months, it has been exciting to see the influx of visitors arriving into their summer homes on our complex. They’re new arrivals for the season, in search of a respite from the heat of Turkish cities like Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.

Daily Sabah - Expat Corner
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Article in the Daily Sabah about my Bodrum Peninsula Travel Guides

Brilliant to be featured in Leyla Ergil’s roundup of Travel Guides about Turkey written by Expats in the Daily Sabah, an English language newspaper in Turkey.

Tilki and Sari at home in their neighbourhood
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

House and Dog Sitting in Gumusluk

Although we’re registered on with a couple of house sitting sites, we still manage to pick up local assignments through word of mouth. Here’s our pet sit news for Tilki and Sari in Gumusluk.

Poem A quiet place to write in Gumusluk Roving Jay
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

A quiet place to write in Gumusluk

Here’s a recent poem “A quiet place to write in Gumusluk” about the special spot I escape to gaze at the view and get creative with words.

Laurel and Hardy Carpenters
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Laurel and Hardy are Out of the Frame

Find out what happened when we invited Laurel and Hardy to fit our bathroom door jam and door. Nothing’s ever simple in Turkey!

Wet Windshield Calm After the Storm
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

The Calm after the Storm in Bodrum

Little did we anticipate that the rain on our windscreen signalled the arrival of the armageddon-like weather that descended upon the Bodrum Peninsula as we slept soundly in our beds.

Starbucks Yalikavak Marina Bodrum Turkey
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Going Cold Turkey on Starbucks

We were Going to go Cold Turkey on Starbucks, but then discovered a Starbuck at Yalikavak Marina, Bodrum. Americano anyone?

Bag of Black Olives in Bodrum Turkey
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

Salt Curing our first crop of Black Olives in Bodrum

We picked the black olives from our Bodrum olive tree and then followed a “oil cured” olive recipe that called for lots of salt. And not oil.

Our Luggage in our car Bodrum Airport
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Turkey

The final leg of the journey to Bodrum

A deserted International Terminal at Bodrum greeted us, and our cases had one last road-trip before making it up the last leg of our garden path.

US Flag Turkish Flag Friendship pin
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula California Los Angeles Turkey US

Santa Monica and Bodrum becoming sisters

Santa Monica Sister Cities Association has reached out to Bodrum to request a Sister City alignment. Find out more about this partnership, and how I have been blazing the trail of Citizenship Diplomacy for years.

Expat Author Interview at Blog Expat
Posted in Bodrum Peninsula Nomad Turkey UK US

My Expat Author Interview with Blog Expat

Excerpt from my Author Interview at Blog Expat: I survived the Moonies, and vowed to myself I’d return to the States one day. Back home, I met and fell in love with London, and enjoyed a long, fruitful and gloriously eventful relationship with that fabulous city.