Travels & Trip-ups: Turkey

Hagia Sophia, Photo credit: Margaret Pate 

Pattern in cobblestone path, Photo credit: Margaret Pate 

Dome Madness, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Ever since I worked in the fashion industry, I've traveled alone. It is pretty much a prerequisite that if you are going to model you have to be well adjusted enough to coordinate your life even in countries where the language is so foreign you confuse a word for a sneeze or cough. So I've been to my fair share of places: Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. In Asia, I was constantly stared at, which is rather unnerving. I would second guess every move I made for fear that I might offend someone. More often than not, I would spend months completely alone. No human contact except for occasional emails to home and orders from my agent to go there and do this. When I was living in Milan, my mom came to visit me during a rather rough patch. We took time together riding on trains, eating pasta, visiting quaint villages along the coast of Italy. Cultures are best absorbed with people you love, I've come to experience. While working in Singapore, my dad came to visit me. I remember greeting him for the first time. That hug was the first time I had been hugged in over 4 months. I am not a touchy feelie person but that moment remains one of only good experiences I had in Singapore.

Turkish Cottage, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate 

Heading down to dip my toes in the Aegean

Aegean Sea, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate  

Fish netting at the seaside, Photo credit: Margaret Pate 

Against friends and family members' wishes, I headed out for an adventure in Turkey this past October.  I've always been a history nerd. Seeing the landscape and ruins that had been echoing in my head since school was breathtaking. I hadn't expected to feel so welcome there. The food, the architecture, the art, the COFFEE...it was a great time...on the ground. Naturally, I loathe flying. Spending more than 8 hours in an airport or one airplane for that matter is just short of a prison sentence. The only negative point of this trip happened to be my flight back where I contracted food poisoning or something similar thus condemning me to the bathroom or forcing a barf bag to be attached to my face. Here are a few more pictures from my most recent trip that reflect the good times that were had rather than the latter on the flight back.

Lunch under apple trees, Photo credit: Margaret Pate

Spice Market in Istanbul, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Library ruins in Ephesus, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate 

Arch in Istanbul, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Hanging lamps galore in Bazaar of Istanbul, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Lunch in a cave, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Sunset in Istanbul, Photo credit: Margaret Pate

Hoping to share more of my travels with you if I can ever find the photos from them.

-Maggie