Upcoming Trip to Turkey

18 days to go until our Easter Holiday Trip to Turkey. It's been 2 years since we last visited the place and since then, we are always looking forward to going back and doing the things we weren't able to do and see.

Our original plan was to go to Thailand for Songkran (Thailand's New Year). The water festival is fun and the kids will surely enjoy it. But Thailand still has so many restrictions which are put as off but understandable. I was about to home to the Philippines from there to see my family. But we decided to move the date and go to Thailand and the Philippines in July-August when the kids are off school.

We are all excited and even my husband keeps checking how many days to go till our holiday. You can see the happiness on his face every time he checks and sees the day getting nearer the date. But to tell you the truth the process is very stressful. I book the all-inclusive package without our passport. I was crossing my finger that it will come on time. And by God's grace, Jigz and mine came. We are over the moon! Only to realise that Tia's passport needs to be renewed as well.

My husband is too relaxed that we can avail of the fast track option and just pay extra and get her passport in 2 days or even in a week. Unfortunately, we didn't know that Her Majesty's Passport Service stops the fast track application and the backlog from Covid is unbelievable that it now takes to a minimum of 10 weeks before you received your new passport. Plus the online application is very complicated for us because there should be someone to confirm it. Not just anyone else but a professional and those on their list.

Imagine, we already booked the flight, already started packing clothes only to be upset that we might not be able to go and the holiday money goes to waste as even you a get refund, it will not be 100% of what you paid. If Tia can't go, we can't just leave her and enjoy ourselves. They bad. And she's so excited about it, you know. She's always asking how many days till we go on a plane? And I just couldn't tell her that "You don't have a passport yet Tia. We might not able to go." Oh, I pray hard!

It's our fault. We didn't plan it well. We didn't check it early. We are too relaxed that there's an available option if we are in a rush. But there's none.

My husband keep phoning for passport assistance and told them that we have an upcoming flight. Thank God that He sends us an angel. The customer service assistant was very helpful and kept track of the passport and updated us.

And now we are just waiting for them to deliver the passport as the last email said 'it's already been printed.' Happy days.

Memories of Oludeniz

Last time we went to the stunning Oludeniz in Dalaman. We are still going to Dalaman but this time to Datca. We are planning to go to the nearby town of Bodrum and Marmaris. We are looking forward to an adventure for a fortnight. More information and photos in my next article. I will be sharing which hotel we are going to stay in, this time and what has changed after covid when it comes to travel aside from it getting more expensive than it used to.

Stress no more. Turkey, here we come!

Thank you for reading.