Travel : Turkey
Let Him turn it in your favor
Watch Him work it for your good
Cause He’s not done with what He started
He’s not done until it’s good
If you’re ready for a breakthrough
Just open up and just receive
Cause what He’s pouring out is nothing
You’ve ever seen, you’ve ever seen
Hello peace, hello joy, hello love
Hello strength, hello hope, it’s a new horizon
Fear is not my future, You are
Sickness is not my story, You are
Heartbreak’s not my home, You are
Death is not the end, You are
- “Fear is not My Future” by Brandon Lake and Chandler Moore
That was the song that was playing on my shuffle playlist as I was landing in Istanbul from Tel Aviv. If you read my first travel post about Israel, you might recognize a theme here. God decided to reveal Himself to me in this way on my study abroad trip - playing the perfect song at the perfect time. It was like He was telling me:
“Ok Megan, you’re leaving Israel, but I’m not done working yet. Let me turn it in your favor. What I’m currently pouring out for your life is nothing you’ve ever seen before. There is a new horizon in life coming now. Fear is not your future, I Am. Sickness is not your story, I Am. Heartbreak is not your home, I Am. Death is not the end, I Am.”
During this moment I was just thinking .. woah. The fact that this whole “playing the perfect song while I’m landing in the next location” thing happened again is no coincidence (again, if you read my post about Israel, you’ll recognize another theme here about coincidences).
I decided in that moment that I was not going to suddenly let my time in Israel simply be a thing of the past. I didn’t want my spiritual growth to be left in Israel. I wanted to see God continue to work during my time in Turkey, Greece, and beyond. And that’s exactly what happened.
Again, if you read my last post, you’ll see a similar setup here. When it comes to travel, some people like to hear about the things people learned, some people like to hear about the fun little travel facts and stories, and some people like to hear both. So I’m here to offer both. Below, you’ll find 3 big things I learned in Turkey and 3 little fun facts and stories. Feel free to read as much or as little as you want.
Lessons Learned
Always travel with an open mind.
Before going to Turkey, I had never heard much about it, so I had no idea what to expect. But I can tell you right now that it is probably one of the most underrated countries in the world.
In Istanbul, We went on a boat ride along the Bosporous where one side of the water is the Europe side of Turkey, and the other side of the water is the Asia side of Turkey. Those views were some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen, and I got some bucket list pictures there that you can find in my travel gallery.
Out of the entire population of Turkey, over 90% of people are Muslim, so there are a lot of mosques everywhere. We visited a few mosques such as the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, which were some of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen. I found it very intriguing to immerse myself into a different religious culture as I had never done that before.
We visited many different parts of Turkey along the western coast and a lot of it looked different, but it was all equally as beautiful. A lot of people say some of the coastal areas of Turkey remind them of Hawaii. I’ve never been to Hawaii, but again, it was some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.
Also the food … you guys. I tasted some of the best food I have ever had. I still dream about the food that I ate in all three countries. Specifically the ice cream (and specifically in Turkey, the chocolate caramel Turkish delight).
I say all of this because I would have never known any of this if I had just tried. Visiting this country made me add a lot more countries to my bucket list because I want to see what they’re like, even if I know nothing about them. So don’t just keep your bucket list limited to the more popular countries … you never know what you may find or learn.
2. When traveling, keep things in the perspective of history.
When you’re visiting historical sites in the United States, you won’t find very many things dated past a few hundred years. However, in Turkey (and Israel and Greece as well), we came across historical sites that I am amazed have even made it to today in the condition that they are in. Some examples being the ancient cities of Pergamum, Sardis, and Ephesus, where Paul used to teach in the Biblical times.
We traveled to each city in the span of 2 days, and they were all within a few hours’ drive from each other. It was so interesting for me to think things like: “Wait a minute, you’re telling me Paul walked all this way?!” It never seems like that much when you’re reading about it in the Bible, but seeing the distances between everything in Turkey (and in Israel and Greece as well) really put things into perspective about what life was like back then.
So if you ever find yourself learning about a lot of history when traveling, I encourage you to try to put yourself in the shoes of the people you’re learning about. It makes every aspect of the country you’re in even more interesting.
3. The Bible is truly everywhere, and anyone can be impacted by it.
Going somewhere like Turkey truly amazed me about how the Bible is everywhere. Literally. Like I said before, out of the entire population of Turkey, over 90% of people are Muslim. And yet, there is still so much Biblical history here about Paul and some of the 7 Churches. I also learned that the Hagia Sophia, now a mosque, was originally built as a Christian church in the 6th century.
Seeing a place like this gave me so much encouragement about how God is moving everywhere. Yes, there are still a lot of unreached people groups today, and we as Christians need to do everything we can to spread the word. But, as someone who had never been on this side of the world until now, seeing for myself how God was moving in this country, and still is, gave me a new perspective about how good and big God really is.
It reminded me that even if He doesn’t always feel present, He still is. And as hard as it is to trust that sometimes, the outcome is so impactful when we do.
Fun Facts/Stories
Dogs and cats in Turkey
One thing I found so surprising in Turkey is how dogs and cats are randomly everywhere. But they’re not like random animals you find roaming the streets in the US. These dogs and cats are super friendly and love humans. There were multiple times where we would be eating outside somewhere, and dogs and cats will just come sit by you and want you to pet them (and probably want you to give them food lol).
Our tour guide in Turkey told us that a lot of these animals even get free healthcare. They’re like little citizens of the country! I love that. Why can’t the US be that way? :)
2. The value of money in Turkey
Another thing I also found very surprising is how inexpensive everything is. The value of the Turkish lira is a lot less than the US dollar. 1 Turkish lira = .037 US dollars.
At the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, I bought some street corn for 20 Turkish lira which is equal to less than 1 US dollar. But let me tell you, it was some of the best corn I have ever had. Best dollar I ever spent.
I also realized that I forgot my computer adapter. I needed it to download photos from my camera, but luckily I found one in Turkey that cost only 6 US dollars. I was shocked. What a steal!
As good as these things were though, it put into perspective for me the economy of different places in the world. The US dollar is the most prominent currency in the world, and a lot of other countries rely on its strength. I’m not saying our economy is perfect, but experiencing such a drastic change for myself put things into perspective on how we live compared to others.
3. Think of every minor detail, and maybe even a detour, as adding to the adventure.
I can tell so many stories from this study abroad trip about all of the inconveniences and detours we had to go through. For a lot of them, I can look back and laugh now. There was one particular time in Turkey that I will tell you about.
We had just arrived in Istanbul, but not very easily. Security at the Tel Aviv airport in Israel is pretty intense due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It took us about three hours to finally get through, and our group was completely split up in all of the long lines. And this was in the middle of the night - around 2-6am. So yeah, it was a little stressful.
Our plane took off early that morning and we landed in Istanbul at around 9am. We were all wearing things according to what the itinerary had planned - just a boat ride on the Bosporus and shopping in the markets at the Grand Bazaar.
But we got there, met our tour guide, and realized that scheduling had gotten mixed up. We were actually supposed to go to all of the holy sites that day. But the thing was … none of us were dressed for the holy sites. All of our clothes for holy sites were in our suitcases since we had just arrived. And we couldn’t go to our hotel and change yet since it was still morning.
So what did we do? Our bus stopped in the middle of the busy street in Istanbul. We all had to take our suitcases out of the bus, open them on the sidewalk, take out our clothes for the holy sites, and put our suitcases back on the bus hoping we wouldn’t cause too much traffic. LOL what a time. I can only imagine what people walking and driving by were thinking.
By the time that happened, I was already so tired and done with the day. But then I realized that it will make a good random story one day, and it has now turned into a funny random memory. Even if things during travels don’t always go as planned, it still adds to the adventure. It’s all in the way you look at it. And not just for Turkey, but for anywhere for that matter.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my time in Turkey. If you have any questions about anything, any prayer requests, or anything else, my messages are always open. I would love to hear from you <3
For more pictures and information about each location, visit my “travel gallery” page or view my photography instagram account @salt.light.nashville