Turkiye (aka Turkey[note]Turkiye changed its spelling in English in 2022. Preferably, they will want us to use Türkiye, but since that keyboard shortcut isn't easily reachable in English I think they settled for Turkiye.[/note] is a country I've been to a couple of times. The first time was as a young teen with parents at Kuşadası nearby İzmir. That was my first (and last) all-inclusive resort experience. We managed to leave the resort once and if I'm honest, I didn't have a good first impression of Turkiye from that cursory visit. My second visit was an Istanbul city trip with my mom in 2013 as a twenty-something. That was a fantastic experience and we did most of the cultural and historic things one must do while in Istanbul. My favorite activity back then was visiting the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı). After that, I visited Turkiye as a hitchhiker in 2014. I hitchhiked through the country on my way to my… Read more >