Why Families Are Moving to Turkey

Right now, thousands of families are leaving the West looking for a better life. Lower stress, lower costs, more freedom. And many of them are coming here, Turkey. But the real question is, is Turkey actually better for families? Oh my gosh, I'm telling you, you're going to get that cough kit. After driving over 2,000 kilometers from Bulgaria to Antalya, Turkey, we were so tired, we thought we'd just go to a restaurant and have something traditional to eat. This is the thing, the food, the food makes it even hotter. My tongue's burning. It's really nice, but it's just way too hot. Perhaps you could put some more ketchup on. Passion, is that right? I'm shocked. I thought, you know what, I'm on holiday. It's definitely a holiday. So the car had to be cleaned, so we decided to go to a car wash. This car wash was like no other. It had a lounge and it had mountain views behind it. And the first thing they offered us was chai. Yeah, I think most companies are offering us chai nowadays in Turkey. Yeah, it's standard. It doesn't matter what you do. You can go to ask directions and that person will actually offer you chai. Lovely Turkish tea. I mean, look at that in there, guys. It's absolutely spotless. This is a garage and that's like a living room and that's amazing. This is where the guys hang out. The hospitality in Turkey is absolutely amazing. Absolutely love it here. They treat you really special every time you go to a business. Right, guys, so we have been served tea with sugar. I'm just having an outside wash today and it's about 500 Turkish lira, which is about eight pounds. It's outside clean and yeah, the car was a state before. And I'm looking at the car now. It looks amazing. It looks actually like a brand new car. So these guys do not mess about in Turkey and do things properly. So, yeah, loving it at the moment. Loving the experience. Loving the sun. It's 20 plus degrees and in Bulgaria, it's 14 minus 14 degrees. So I'm not going to complain. Neither is the rest of the family. No one's complaining. Are you complaining? No complaints. There you go. No complaints. You can also see that the kids were also enjoying the service. And you can obviously see it's the first time they've had tea in a hot glass. Actually, you've got some beautiful mountains in the back there. Actually, it's stunning. Just imagine, guys, it's only 15 to 20 hours drive from Bulgaria from our house. And we're in absolute paradise right now. Very warm. Bulgaria is in a minus 12, minus 14. And it is like 20 degrees. Absolutely amazing. Actually, it's stunning. Those mountains are so big, but they look small here. But yeah, it's where we are. So our next priority was food. We went food shopping in one of the biggest retailers because obviously, we had just literally landed in Turkey. We didn't know anyone that was selling organic food yet. So we had to go there and get our shopping. We had been told that the cost of shopping in Turkey had gone up astronomically. So we didn't really know what to expect. I was quite pleasantly shocked for our first observation. But it wasn't that expensive at all. I think, in fact, cheaper than most places that we visited. At the end of this video, we will sit with you guys and show you our bill and the costs that were associated during our shopping. We need a SIM card urgently because we're currently paying 2.99 euros per day on our Bulgarian SIM card. So we shopped around and the prices that were coming back was ranging between 2,000 to 3,500 lira per month. And we found a small company who could offer us a three-month SIM card for 1,500 lira. And that worked out to 500 lira per month. That tariff gave us 50 gigabyte of data and unlimited calls. That is called a tourist SIM card data. You've got to be careful in Turkey. Just like Bulgaria, shops charge different rates for everything. Even buying next door to each other, the prices vary. So do not rush in and buy and shop straight away. Look around, do your research before you buy or else you're going to be gutted. So the next shop next door will be way, way cheaper than the one you just bought. Okay, so they don't take cards really in Turkey. So it's best to have cash. Alternatively, you can go to the bank, which will charge you by the way. So I need to go and take out some money out of the cash point to pay for the SIM card because we haven't got a phone in Turkey and it's costing us about 2.55 euro a day at the moment. Oh, Mari's coming with me. Okay, right, let's go and see where we can find a cash point. Loads of nice shops around here. It's quite cool. We are looking for a bank and I can't see one. You want to know? Hello, what do you think? To me, it seems like Turkish people really cherish family life and kids. Yes, they do. And very important for me and very important for us travelling because we want to always go to countries and visit countries and Turkey is definitely 100% one of them. Just like Bulgaria, they've got a lot of respect for families and children. Can't say a lot about the customs. That's a bit different, but it's a different experience. But you know, they're doing their job. But you know, as a country, Turkey has been absolutely fantastic. Hospitality, like I've said before, is second to none. I've not experienced anything better than this. Even though it's a 99% Muslim country, they are so welcoming to every single race. Also religion. I'm not saying it's all perfect because every country's got a problem, but we feel so safe here, so welcomed by everyone. And they welcome you to their house and they offer you loads of chai. You can't get better than that. Then you're in. There you go. It was your first time taking that cash out of the cashpoint. How did that feel? Yeah, it felt good, but it felt almost familiar. How much did you take out? 200 Turkish lira. Were you charged? Nope. Oh, I think you're going to get a receipt as well. Oh, we said no. Okay, cool. Right. So that was it. Uh, UK, but originally Jamaica. Yeah, but from the UK. Oh, okay. No problem. One day we come back. Elaine and Omarian. Nice to meet you too. So we'll definitely, my husband is around the corner. I'll tell him about here and we will come back. Brilliant. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you. Bye-bye. Okay. So Miley took out cash for the first time. And that is one thing, guys, when you want money from the cashpoint, if you take it out in one of those little boxed cashpoints, you will get charged a lot of money. So I got charged eight pounds something for taking out. I think it was about 200 pounds or 150 pounds. So be mindful, come to a big area like here, and then you can take cash out of the bank, cashpoint, and it'll be free. Also, you've got, hello, you've got exchanges. So if you have got pounds or dollars or euros, go to the exchange, exchange it there, and then you can have cash. Right. So we're going back to go and pay for this card. There's so many places around here. You've got bag shops. Oh, Mike, can I give you my phone? I thought it was here. Yeah, Ankara. There you go. Ankara is very cold. Okay. I didn't get charged as well. That's good. It's good to know. This is where we are, that bus station, the border. Yeah. We didn't know anything. Oh, it was at, no, it was at the seafront, remember? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, it was. Yeah. So at least we know now. You know, these are cheap, these things. 200. I failed after the conversation. Oh, okay, okay, thank you. Brilliant. 10 minutes. 10 minutes, no problem, come on. Brilliant. Thank you. This is yours, this is your phone number. Oh, phone number. This is yours. Brilliant. Thank you. That's brilliant. Oh, yeah, I'm going to put that in my bag. Take a picture of the phone number. This phone's so slow, I've got to think about it. This one now. Okay, it was good, right? I don't know what it's saying. This phone needs to go in the bin. Can I look to the girl's account? Oh, no. And then it goes. So she took off. No. He did. No, I didn't. Right now. That? Oh, that, that, that, of course. Take a picture. Oh, yeah. Brilliant. Thank you. Thank you, bye, bye. Right, is that it? Yeah. They got all sorts of... Yeah, I don't know if it's pellets, maybe. Maybe it's pellet ones. Yeah, because they got masks. Snorkelling mask. All sorts. Oh, wow. They got the GPS. That's what we got. The GPS 62. Ah, diving knife. They got all sorts here. That's good. And the butane for the gas. And what's a diving knife? Is it if you go in water? Then you can feel stuff in the water. Yeah. Yeah, it's very, very sharp. They got all sorts here. But this is a proper outdoor shop. That's brilliant. All these are like for the Turkish coffee. They got a coin. Keep out in case they want you to keep out. No, no, it's just a joke. That's what we would buy and put it on our gate in Bulgaria. That's brilliant. Wow, they got all sorts in there. Do you want to have a look in there? Mum, they won't come in there. Fast sweets. Maybe a bit too sweet for you guys. You got nuts. It's called a good one. No, not prunes. The other one. Dates. Oh, yeah. But clearly not. You got cinnamon sticks, all sorts. We'll be back. Thank you. Bye. So this organic. Oh, it's organic. Yeah. So you can see, guys, that is an organic store that we went into there. Park box, not Starbucks. No. That's brilliant. So that was our little walk down this road. It's only one road we've gone down and we will see other places in the Kima. I think it's Kima or Kema town. It's very big. There's a lot to see, buy and eat around here. So definitely worth checking out, guys, if you're ever in the area. I'm really impressed. I'm so impressed, Turkey. Can we live here? I wish we should have stopped and had a coffee at one of these places. Look, I was just going to say, they're not rough. I don't think we're going to go and sit at home. Because, yeah. Unless we go back home. There's a kebab place over there. No, not kebab, Mari. Just a coffee. That one down there, right? The coffee shop. Whilst we walked around this town, which is called Kema, we noticed that a lot of shops sold organic, natural foods. And there were a lot of restaurants offering cooked food as well. So if we didn't want to cook at home, we could go out and find a decent meal for reasonable cost. And it was all naturally cooked and natural ingredients. For instance, I had a meal the other day. It was a bowl of rice, a bowl of goat with potato, another salad, and another bowl with peppers mixed up with some nice sauces and some gravy. And that came to 220 lira. Wow. Which is? About four pounds. Yes, and it was beautifully cooked food. And enough for me and someone else to share. What do you do here? What? Oh, the orange. OK, what do you do here? Oh, these. OK, you cook fresh. Cool. OK, brilliant. And you open all day? From now till late. Oh, you close now? Close now. No problem. Brilliant. OK, thank you very much. Have a good day. Thank you. You too. OK, he said just the place, the orange place, they do coffee. We've gone to the shops. We've bought stuff. What did you buy when you went to the shop? Just juice, jalapeno, potatoes, those tangy sweets, juice. What's your favorite food so far in Turkey? It's lumbar, I think. Yeah. Knefi. Hello. Wow. Wow, look at the cakes. Oh my gosh. Is that cheesecake? What, that's cheesecake? Oh my gosh, that is too much. Oh my gosh. How much is the coffee? Lira. Hello. How much is the Turkish coffee? Turkish coffee? Lira, yeah. OK. Give me one minute. No problem. Take away? No, no, eat in. Cut. 85. OK. So if we get two of those, please. And please, before you sit. OK. No problem. And how about that? You see that sweet here? How much is that per? Kilogram or portion? Is it kilo or portion? This is the portion. Oh, are they called tulumba? Tulumba. Yeah, perfect. OK, we order at the table? Yeah, please, you choose a table. OK, no problem. Thank you. Oh my word. Wow. Right, shall we just sit down? Do you want to sit down? What do that taste like? Why is it green? It's a bit cold. Why is it green? I don't know, but let's go sit down. Which ones? And with the grey and the grey. Oh no, those are proper cakes that they would have made for someone. Oh, look at those rolls though. Oh my gosh. Oh, they made that for someone. Yeah, it's like an ice cream. They made it for someone. Oh, we're just going to sit down. No problem. We're just admiring the cakes. Right, OK, where do you want to sit? Sorry. OK, shall we sit here? Mine's creamy. I didn't always thought I'd get it. Wow. That is really good. What are you guys looking forward to next in Turkey? Nafi. It's swimming in the sea. What's been your most favourite thing about Turkey so far? Seeing the animals. What animals do you mean? Chicken and the chicks and the baby kittens. Peacocks. And the peacocks, what we literally hear. And goose and duck. And there's one other thing. Mari, can you remember? Horses. Dogs. Oh, I just said that actually. Because you guys have been learning the language as well, right? How do you say hello, Mari, in Turkish? Merhaba. How do you say how are you in Turkish? Anyone remember? I know what is your name. One minute. Nasilsin. Cool. And what is your name, Mike? Benim. Oh, no. Benim. Adim. I think. Is where my name is. And then what is your name is? Adim. Adimne. Cool. Okay. And Nesi, do you remember any of the Turkish language? So, Teşekkürler. And hoşça kal. And what does that mean? Hoşça kal bay. Well, yeah. Or you can say güle güle. Well, say. Or you can say güle güle. But I'm pretty sure you can just say güle, though, just to say one bay. Pretty sure you don't need to say two or güle güle. Like, that's probably the main one to say güle güle. But I'm pretty sure you can just say güle. Hello means hello. Bay means bye. I want kinetic. Don't waste it. Ehh. Or iyim. Something like that. Something iyim. Iyim is I'm good. And then good is just iy. So, between Bulgarian and Turkish, which one do you find is easier to learn? Or is it just different? I think it's both, though. It's just Turkish. It's more longer words sometimes. They're both as hard as each other. So. Okay. I kind of think Turkish. Same. Yeah. I mean, the writing is easy, but the talking. I kind of think Turkish is easier. Okay. I want to try that one. I don't remember what I've tried in that. That's vanilla. Is it? I don't know. Do you want to taste it? No, not really. I just want coffee. I'm not sure about that. Have you already made that? No. Have you stopped asking for it? Mum? Yeah? Do you remember we went food shopping earlier and we paid 17.39 Turkish Lira? But was it worth it? This is our original bill. I've itemized the bill and converted it to sterling in order for us to make a proper comparison. This is the same product priced from a large UK supermarket. So you can see that our shopping bill in Turkey was actually 12% more than our shopping in the UK. But if you want to make more savings, you can actually buy less imported food and more local or in-season produce. That does it. We need to start the third drink. So this is called Tuluman. Do I like it? I don't think you don't like it. Coffee? It's not coffee, it's chocolate. I don't say you don't like it. It always tastes like water. No, I don't go mad. It always tastes like water. Yeah, you think that. You don't have it. Mix it up. Try and mix it up. Mix it up. I love it. It's cream. Let me see. Let me show you. Lego, look at me for help. £900 and it works out to... How much is that, Mike? £9.55. Approximate. That's expensive. But saying that in London, it would have been a lot more. No, I don't think it's £8. I think it works out to about £16. Yeah. £15. So if you come to Turkey and eat out. And come to Kima. Just check out. I'm not going to say come to here especially, but there's loads of restaurants, cafes and bars and stuff. And yeah, some good shops here. It's been a week. And so far, we are so impressed with the service and the kindness of the Turkish people. Which we'll talk about later in future videos. So is Turkey a good for families? In this region, which is Antalya, we've been told that there's so much for families to do. We haven't explored not even a pinhead of what those activities are. Also, when you do come to Turkey, the first thing you need to do is get yourself some lira. Pay lira and then you're not paying almost double for the products. So that's a good tip I've learnt while I've been here. When you're taking cash out at the cash point, go to a proper bank. Don't take it out at those little small ATMs because you will get charged a lot more. And there's hundreds of these ATMs. In a row, you'll probably see 20 to 25 ATMs in one row. All different banks. Especially if you come through the border, you'll see a lot there. Don't use those. Carry on into the town or go into the nearest town and go into a local bank or a bank ATM and you're not going to get charged. But if you go to those ATMs, you are going to charge up to 10%. Yeah, 10%. And 10% is a lot of money, depends on how much you're taking out. So be smart with your money. Go to a bank and get your money from a bank ATM machine. So we think we're going to stay for a little while and explore and see if Turkey is really good for families.