[EXPAT PROFILE] Making a success of a new life

On the other side of the desk

While booking a holiday, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a travel agent? Linda has unintentionally made that transition herself. “Before I moved to Kalkan -- my second husband John and I came out to live here in 1994 -- I’d worked for 28 years as a laboratory technician in a large hospital in the southeast of England,” she highlights.

“While we were on holiday in Kalkan, we realized that there was an opening for a new travel agency here. To be honest it was more my husband than me: He got involved and smitten with the idea over several large helpings of rakı. We then started a travel agency, Abi Travel. But three years later, in 1997, it had gone horribly wrong with our partner. Fortunately, we had a very good person who worked for us, Osman, and over several weeks of near despair, Osman, John and I rebuilt the company. We worked really hard to get it up and running on a professional basis, and we’ve now built up a good reputation. In fact, a very large percentage of our business, airport transfers, car hire, daily tours and property maintenance, is based on recommendations, and we work hard to keep that reputation.”

Linda and John first came to Turkey in 1991 because they couldn’t make their minds up about where they wanted to go on holiday. “I didn’t know anything about the country, but a few years earlier, after my first husband died, I’d spent several holidays in Egypt,” Linda explains, adding, “There I fell in love with the ancient monuments and tombs, and the weather,” she explains, and adds: “When we went to the travel agents to choose a holiday, I was interested in Greece, but John couldn’t make up his mind. After a couple of weeks of thinking about where to go it was left to me to choose. The girl in the travel shop had just come back from Kalkan and sold me a holiday here within a few minutes. I then started reading about Turkey. It seemed as if I had made a good choice as there is so much ancient history around every corner and the climate seemed just right.”

Despite the demands of working in tourism, Linda also makes time to contribute to the local community. “I’m involved in helping with the welfare of street cats and dogs,” she points out, explaining: “In 1994 a Turkish friend and I started to get street animals neutered. This was done almost as an undercover operation -- in those days street animals were often rounded up and left in the mountains or poisoned and left to to die a horrible death. There was no help or money available, so we paid for the operations ourselves and often got shouted at for helping the animals. Thankfully now there is much more awareness of the issue, and a lot of Turkish people help to look after the animals and raise money for the operations. Children are also being taught to care for cats and dogs at school.”

As Linda has been based in Kalkan for 16 years, what does she appreciate about being in Turkey? “The country is diverse: in just a few kilometers there are so many different things to see,” she emphasizes. “I love the mountains as well as the sea. I like Kalkan because the people have always been friendly and treated me with respect. I hope that they feel the same about me. I have wonderful Turkish neighbors and English friends nearby who are always ready to step in with watering my plants and cat feeding if we are busy at the office and I can’t get back to Gökseki, as I live a two-center life during the tourist season. I have tried to learn to speak Turkish but failed miserably, although I can understand and read quite a lot and can speak pigeon Turkish of a sort. We also have a couple of websites that give local news and upcoming events in and around Kalkan, which is very helpful to everyone who lives here; in the winter the population of Kalkan is about 3,600, 20 percent being British expats. Living in Turkey has also changed me as I now realize what real friendship means: It comes from the heart and money doesn’t have to play a large part in your life. The day in September 2005 when my husband died suddenly proved such a lot: When I got back from Fethiye there were a great many Turkish and English people gathered at the cemetery to offer their support. There is nothing I really miss about England, although I would like to see the first spring flowers as they come out and a bluebell wood. I also miss Stilton cheese and Cadbury’s chocolate, but that isn’t a problem because I have a network of guests that bring me those.”

Kalkan nowadays is synonymous with tourism

So why is Kalkan a popular holiday destination? If you ask people who have been there on holiday, they will generally tell you about a picturesque Mediterranean village with narrow streets of whitewashed houses inhabited by friendly locals and expats and a historic harbor which was probably a base for pirates and then go on to recommend it as a base for visits to nearby historic sites. “A large part of the holiday for many people is eating out,” Linda highlights, “and we have over 200 restaurants here. They range from very smart places offering European food to small places offering home-style Turkish cooking.”

Over the 16 years that Linda has lived in Kalkan she has observed many changes in the tourism there.

The most noticeable is probably the downside, as Linda explains. “A lot of development has taken place in and around Kalkan. Several areas that were considered ‘green’ have been built on, but that seems to be slowing down now, which can only be a good thing. The local ‘belediye’ [town council] is taking more of an interest in the environment, and they hold regular meetings for locals and foreigners to have their say.”

Not so obvious is how the tourists themselves have changed. ”When we started Abi Travel, most of the tours were conducted by the big travel companies that bought people to the hotels, “Linda says, and explains: “Now that we have less hotels and more private apartments and villas here, tourists have become more adventurous and like to explore the area. Car hire is much more popular than a few years ago, for example. People are now also looking to enjoy a different side to tourism in the Kalkan area. Our walking holidays have done well -- we have a good selection of graded walks ranging from seven to 22 kilometers.”

“The groups have ranged from eight to 25 people, but the average is usually about 14. The walkers vary in age from 20 to 60 and over; the oldest person so far was a gentleman of 78 who was as fit as a fiddle. Some people like to take photographs of the wildflowers, while others walk to enjoy the scenery and spot the different birds and wildlife.”

“I envisage that Kalkan will continue to thrive in the future,” Linda goes on. “We have something for everyone -- from trips to just lazing about enjoying the sea and soaking up the atmosphere. The local shopkeepers even still have time to talk and offer advice to tourists, usually about the weather.”