Helen Simpson, Istanbul-based travel writer and editor for online travel guide, www.myistanbulinfo.com.

I moved to Istanbul, Turkey, at the end of 2009 to help set up an online guide to Istanbul. I first came here on an extended travelling holiday and fell in love with the city, so I decided to stay and try to make a life here.


What challenges did you face during the move?

Because I moved alone, the task of making friends, finding a home and navigating (geographically and culturally!) around this colossal city were left up to me.   more ...

My name is Jack Scott, originally from London.

Last year I moved to Bodrum in Turkey with my civil partner, Liam. I was a petty bureaucrat for 30 years gently ascending a career ladder to middle management, middle income and a middling suburban terrace; comfortable, secure and passionately dissatisfying. We thought it high time to take a break from our labours, put our feet up and watch the pansies grow while we were young enough to enjoy it.   more ...

My name is Colin Guest; I am originally from England but now live in Turkey. In 1988, I accepted a contract to work in Turkey, on a hotel complex down on the Mediterranean coast at a place named Kemer. Until moving to Turkey, I had no knowledge of what life was like living there. I was pleased to find that Kemer was in a beautiful location being right on the edge of the Mediterranean, backed by the pine forested Taurus Mountains. The hotel complex was just outside of Kemer and set around several coves next to a long sandy beach, overall it was perfect. As my contract was married status my wife Jenny joined me a month after I arrived here. During the first month of my wife being in Kemer, the company put us into a hotel until they found a suitable apartment. We later moved into a furnished apartment above a Turkish carpet shop in the main street.   more ...

My name is Tara Lutman Agacayak. In 2002 I married my Turkish husband and moved to Turkey to be with him.

My biggest challenges were not knowing Turkish and not having a support network to help me through the culture shock. There were no other foreigners in the small town where we first ended up living so I didn’t have anyone to talk with who I could relate to. But slowly as my Turkish improved and as I made friends with other expats, I began to find my place and feel settled in.   more ...