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Kayla Smith

February 26, 2023

Istanbul, Group Travel, and Relearning How to Talk to Strangers

When I traveled to Morocco with Travel Talk in 2019, I believe there was a rule that participants were supposed to be between 18 and 39 years old. This wasn’t a strict rule at all. On my Morocco tour, there was a delightful couple my parents’ age who were on a world tour and had just walked the Camino Santiago, and there was a lovely mom with her college-aged daughter. But the rest of the participants fell into this age range, and of the 20 or so of us, I think I was one of the 5 oldest people. I anticipated that being the case again in Turkey, and the first thing I noticed when we walked into the room where we were having our welcome meeting was that the rule had clearly changed without me realizing it. Most of the people we saw at first were older. Significantly older—there were several retired married couples. And the group was big–twice as large as the Morocco tour. And though I was not expecting a party tour (nor would I ever go on a tour that I expected to be a party-tour), it was a different vibe than I had envisioned. Our group ended up being a little over 40 people with ages ranging from 23ish to probably 70s. There were people from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Belarus, Serbia, China, Africa, and the Middle East, and at first I wondered how everyone would connect across ages and ethnicities. Would people self-segregate by age? Would we find things in common?

And the answer, of course, is that it only took about a day for me to realize that age and background wouldn’t have much impact on the connections we made on the trip. A special thing about travel is that you start to realize that there are ways to connect with most anyone regardless of what you do or don’t have in common at first glance. It’s a self-selecting type of person who chooses to go on a tour like this one, and a shared interest in travel is all any of us needed to bond.

 

A barrier that was challenging for me to overcome though was my level of Covid caution. As a life-long extreme hypochondriac, the pandemic was my worst-nightmare come to life. I hid in my house and didn’t even go in a grocery store for at least the first 6 months of the pandemic. I did contactless pickups and then left groceries untouched for days in case germs were on the bags. After Covid testing became easily available, I must have done 50 of them. And then vaccines were released and things were looking up… until just a month or two later when my mom got her cancer diagnosis. As the rest of the world gradually started to reemerge from their cocoons, I went further into hiding to keep my mom safe. Since I went with her to appointments, I feared bringing her not only Covid but any potential illness. I got special permission to keep working from home even after my coworkers returned in person. My mom didn’t finish her treatments until the month before my trip, so I left for my journey having spent over two years in near isolation.

Of course I recognized that it wouldn’t be possible to go on this trip and be cautious in the way I’d been for the previous two years. I recognized that it was highly possible, even likely, that I’d get sick at some point on the trip, and I decided it was worth the risk. I didn’t want my dreams and goals to be on indefinite hold without even a guarantee that things would ever be back to what had been “normal.” Still, I’d worn my N-95 mask inside all public places on my trip until this point, and I had miraculously not gotten sick yet. When we started the tour though, I knew that I’d be around our 40 new friends every waking hour of the next 12 days.  A mask wasn’t going to keep me from getting sick if everyone else on our bus did. And so, feeling reckless and a bit unhinged, I joined my 40 new friends without a mask and tried to remember how to talk to strangers without my facial expressions hidden. Michael remembered everyone’s name in the first 15 minutes. I’m not exaggerating. I felt tired after meeting about 5 people, and at first, they probably thought I was strange and mute. (They would not have been entirely wrong.) But I pushed through, and it gradually got easier. (Spoiler alert—I did not get sick in Turkey. And I’m still in touch with several of the wonderful new friends we met there. Come visit us in New Orleans, friends!)

With our tour group, we spent another day in Istanbul visiting the must-see attractions. Topkapi Palace was the royal palace where the sultans used to rule, and it looked like something from a fairy tale. The Blue Mosque was under construction, but the scaffolding inside couldn’t entirely hide the beauty of it. The Hagia Sophia was something I’d dreamed of seeing for a decade. Originally built between 532 and 537AD, it was built as the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Constantinople. It was the world’s largest cathedral for a thousand years, and then when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was converted to a mosque and became the principle mosque in the city. In 1935, it became a museum, and then in 2020, it was reclassified as a mosque. Today it’s still the most iconic monument in Turkey. I’m endlessly fascinated by sites that have been shared by multiple faiths (even if the “sharing” wasn’t voluntary). Standing in this space, bare feet on thick blue carpet and hair covered in reverence, felt surreal.

That evening, we took a cruise on the Bosphorus to see the cityscape, and the next morning we headed down the coast into a whole new continent.

Posted In: Istanbul

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Writer, educator, book lover, explorer, map collector, and elderly dog lover. Sharing thoughts, stories, and wonder as I go.

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kaylamichellesmith

During the 24 hours I was in Sarajevo, it stormed, During the 24 hours I was in Sarajevo, it stormed, I twisted my ankle, a tour I wanted to do was canceled, and I lost my debit card. But despite all this, I knew nearly immediately that I was obsessed with this city. 

Sarajevo isn’t the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, but it’s one of the most fascinating. The little I knew about Sarajevo, and the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, before visiting was outdated by 30 years. The war here happened so recently that my school textbooks were published before it but so long ago that I barely remember. The first time I ever heard of a place called Bosnia, long before I could find it on a map, was in a kid’s chapter book about the war, and what I took away from the story was that this was a terrifying and dangerous place that a person should never visit. 

What a gift it is to be able to correct your own past assumptions.

When I think about which places I’ve visited that I want to return to, Sarajevo is near the top of that list.
Leaving Budapest and the Schengen zone for Serbia Leaving Budapest and the Schengen zone for Serbia felt like heading into the Wild West—this was a very different Europe than I’d visited before. And to be honest, my first impression of Belgrade was not a good one. We arrived late at night after bus delays, and the bus station was closed. Late night transportation  options were questionable, and taxi drivers kept approaching way too eagerly and offering rides for ridiculous prices. This could have happened in any city, but in the moment it felt sketchy and tense.

The next morning, the city felt considerably less sketchy but still cold and unwelcoming. It took half a day, but finally we found a couple modern and popular areas of town full of bookstores and music and better vibes. And while I still wouldn’t say I liked Belgrade much, I’m glad I visited and glad that I was able to change my mind after my initial impression. And of course, I ended up loving the rest of the Balkans. 

I know so many people who LOVE Serbia. I’d love to go back and explore more of the country to find why they love it.
My monthly reminder that most of my photos are act My monthly reminder that most of my photos are actually dog photos and that I’m at my kitchen table far more often than I’m traveling. August had some lovely moments. @1samanthaaldana  @lindaa.xoxoxo
If you’ve ever wondered what I’m doing when I’m away traveling, it’s usually this. 

(Is there a single one of you who’s gonna watch 50 entires seconds of bookstores? @thebookeasy friends, I’m counting on you! 😂) 

Everyone, drop your favorite bookstore in the world in the comments! I’ll add them all to my travel list! 

I think my favorite of all these is @carturesticarusel in Bucharest. It’s indescribably magical.
For over a decade, countless people have told me I For over a decade, countless people have told me I should pursue a job as a travel advisor. I’m so glad I finally decided they were right. @hellofora 

Nothing brings me as much joy as helping others travel. But Instagram and its mysterious algorithm can only go so far in helping me reach people who want to hear more about what I can offer. So…I’ve decided to start a newsletter! 

In my newsletter, I’ll share special deals, perks, tips, and news for all types of travelers. I am planning to send a newsletter just once or twice per month, and you can trust that I won’t spam you! 

If you’d like to receive the newsletter, you can comment “Me!” below, and I’ll send you the easy sign up link! And I’ll be forever grateful if you help spread the word!
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