advice on moving to turkey for season

I'm considering spending the season in turkey now i've been made redunant and it's an opportunity to spend the whole summer with my other half, i have some savings (not much) so hope to live on that if i do go over. if i can pick your brains on how much it will cost to live out there and other other advice you can give i would be greatful. my OH might be working altinkum or fethiye, he will know in about a month but it will be one or the two. any valuable tips would be helpful

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Years ago I spent one summer season in Turkey (Altinkum) right before my husband came over here to live but I can't really offer you much advice. Although it was nice to be together all the time and to be able to finally put the long distance thing behind us, my husband still had to work very long hours in an hotel, apart from the last couple of weeks we were there. I found the whole experience deeply boring and quite emotionally draining after a time to be honest. I didn't work while I was there and after a few weeks I'd had more than enough of sitting around - there are only so many books you can read, letters you can write and holiday makers you can chat to! I missed family and friends dreadfully and all my usual home comforts and routines, work etc too. The relentlessly hot weather also drove me berserk and I was very homesick come the end and was absolutely desperate to get home. I nearly kissed the ground when we arrived back at Heathrow. I'd certainly never want to spend an entire summer in Turkey again - and thankfully nor would my husband!

So, my advice to you would be to be fully prepared to be incredibly bored if you don't have anything constructive to do all day and no sort of routine. The highlight of my days there was doing our laundry and tidying our room! Also, let your partner sort everything out - after all it's his country you're visiting and he should want to sort things out for you and take care of you.

Good luck to you if you decide to do it. I hope you get more out of the experience than I did! We didn't return to Turkey for over 3 years after that

well you cant get more honest info than from judith that made me giggle but at the same time its so true.I didnt have the pleasure of spending a season there so like most of us i cant really give you any advice other than to check out things before you decide on what you will do.Hopefully it may work well for you and could be what you need to realise if you could live there or not etc so its always worth a go. good luck x

I think Judith works for the turkish tourist board and wants to keep it all to herself!

Sal x

In response to Martina's question, its not so easy just to go over to Turkey for the summer anymore. When you enter Turkey you will be issued with a 90 day visit visa, then you MUST leave Turkey for a full 90 days before you can return.

To over ride that problem and remain in Turkey for over 90 days, you must apply for a residency permit and sign up for SGK medical cover or have the equivalent private medical cover. You used to have to have a tenancy agreement (Kiralık), Tax Number, Bank Statements and a letter written in Turkish plus the fee for residency. Now I'm not particularly au fait with all of this now, but what I do know is that you will not be permitted to remain after the expiration of the 90 visit visa without a residence permit. Without residency, you will not be allowed back into Turkey until 90 days has elapsed.

Why would you want to waste your savings being bored in Turkey? I have a house over there and am fortunate enough to go there whenever I want, but as Judith has said, there is only so much you can do before the novelty wears off. If you really want to go for the summer, ask your partner to enquire about all the legalities I have pointed out above and get him to find accommodation, after all he will get it at Turk rates.

Ruby

Martina might wanna be bored in turkey instead of bored here...........LOL.......

Resorts are dead boring in the winter just like ghost towns If you are depressed it will make you more depressed and bored being in a boring shut down resort with eff all to do is he really woth it Martina?

Pol x

Woth it?......LOL......sure hes woth it!.....LOL......

I lived in Turkey for nearly 3 years and I do have to agree with some of the things people have said. It isn't like being on holiday, you can only do the holiday thing for so long especially on limited finds and after that what is there to do if your man is working all the time? The first season I was there I had a friend with me so it was a lot easier (until we fell out - but that is another story!). Winters were dull, cold and there was even less to do. By the next summer I had my baby daughter to fill my time but I still got very bored and pretty lonely.

I don't regret my time there, it was a great experience for me and I did enjoy a lot of the time I spent there so I wouldn't say don't go just be aware that it wont be like a holiday.

As someone mentioned though it is not so easy to go for 6 months any more, I just used to hop over to Kos for the day and renew my visa but there are new rules now where you can only spend 90 days out of 180 days there or you have to get a residency permit. Maybe you would do better just to do 3 months, that way you wont eat into your savings that much and you wont be there so long you get bored.

Ladies you've given me lots of very good advice here, i really appreciate your input it's helping me a lot in my planning. i'm glad you told me about the visa set up, i thought you could just take boat trips to kos or rhodes and renew it that way but that must be out of date information. how much does a residency permit cost does anyone know? it sounds difficult to me and very official, i only want to spend the season out there i don't want to work or anything like that and i can't anyway i know that. i hear what you tell me about getting bored out there but i'm sure i will find things to keep me busy, i love reading and listening to music and browsing round shops and markets so daytime should be okay, plus i will go down to the beaches some days with my music and mags and when my OH has his off day we will go together. my main concern is costs and how much i might need to spend, i chatted to a friend who is in a similar situation to me and she said things have got dearer than last year even so i want to do a spreadsheet and try to work out how much a season will cost. has anyone got a ballpark figure for 3 months and 6 months? things like permits medical cover and sgk, do i need all that? it will be a years medical cover that i will take out from here, will that be enough or do i need the other cover too? i'm sorry to ask so may questions but i want to do it all right from the start and make sure i don't have any nasty shocks or have to come back if i run out of money.

Martina

Really the budget you will need actually depends on what your circumstances will be when you are in Turkey. For example, who will be coughing up the money to rent an apartment, you or your partner. Rents average from 500-1000 TL per month, usually paid in advance for the season, then you have electricity which is as expensive as the UK, Water, Gas Bottle (if cooking with gas), telephone contour (credit), food, toiletries and drink. There is no TV Licence or Council Tax. Not sure how much your medical insurance would be as I dont know anything about you, age, health etc. You need to ask your partner about Residency costs for 12 months, you will have to supply bank statements, Turkish tax number, rental agreement and have a supporting letter written in Turkish. I have the feeling that if you take your own medical care for the first 12 months, you dont have to register for SGK but I'm not 100% sure. Thing is, everything changes by the day in Turkey, so what I am writing here is a guide. My guess is if you are paying for everything you will need approximately 800 pounds per month which includes rent, but usually the rent is paid in advance anyway. That figure is a rough estimate and could well be on the low side. Maybe someone else could offer an opinion. ALWAYS keep enough money for an emergency air fare back home - that is an absolute must.

Ruby