Today is for Mark Warren

Mark is a friend of mine from Seattle. We worked together at Progressive International (not the insurance company). Today’s walk was about 32 km (20 miles), starting at the provincial border between Urfa and Diyarbakır, and ending at the village of Tokaçlı. When...

These aren’t shepherds

It was a little windy out today. To keep from getting blown over, I had to lean way to the side while I walked. So when a man who looked like a shepherd waved me over to a small stone shelter I eagerly headed in his direction. “Roj baş,” I said as I walked...

An angry boy

While I was walking out of Siverek this morning about eight 10-year-old boys came running up to me. One of the boys was jumping up and down, gesturing wildly, his face contorted in anger, yelling that Syrians were not welcome and that I should move on. I turned to...

This conversation is over

Today two guys pulled over to offer me a ride into town. “Thank you,” I said, “but I am walking.” The driver jumped out of his car and crossed over to the median strip to say hello. I too crossed over to the median. We shook hands. “Where...

No, on foot

Here’s a conversation I have many times a day: Other: Where are you going? Me: Today I am walking from A to B. Walking. On foot. Other: Are you hitchhiking? Me: No, I am walking. On foot. Other: Are you riding a bicycle? Me: No, I am walking. On foot. Other:...

Today is for Zerya Alan

Zerya is a friend of mine from Mersin. I am nearing her hometown of Diyarbakır. Zerya was the first one to teach me the Kurdish greeting "roj baş," and I must say, in these parts "roj baş" brings on some pretty big smiles.

Necmettin and Mustafa, welcome to Couchsurfing

In Urfa I stayed with Necmettin and Mustafa (in the photo, on the left and middle). I helped Necmettin set up an account on Couchsurfing.org. This afternoon, just a couple days after he set up his account, he is meeting a German traveler to tour around the city. If...

A hitchhiking tip

Once or twice a day drivers suggest to me that hitchhiking would be so much easier if I crossed the road and walked with traffic, not against it. I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer (witness how long it took me to realize those weren’t bottles...

And Siverek is 72%

I reached Siverek today, midway between Sanliurfa and Diyarbakir. Every time I cross a new 10% milestone I remember my first one, back in September.

Truck stop grub

A friend of mine has a blog called "Recipe a Day" (hergun1tarif.com). At lunch today I laughed and thought, "I ought to start one called QuestionableTruckStopGrub.com." Featured in what would be today’s entry are white beans and rice (kuru...

Today is for Mary Baba – Happy birthday

Mary is my aunt (my mother’s sister). Her birthday actually isn’t until tomorrow, but I won’t be walking tomorrow — I’ll be moving on to Diyarbakır. Mary, I have a photo of me at the Euphrates river the other day. I’ll drop that in...

Like a spy

About two months into the walk I began to realize life would be much easier if I stopped caring what people thought about the walk, and just did it. Before I stopped caring, life was complicated by the fact different people respond differently to the walk when they...

Today is for Yonca Akbayrak

Yonca is a friend of mine in Istanbul. I know her from Istanbul Toastmasters, but it turns out we already had friends in common. On Twitter Yonca goes by @epithetankgirl, which I think is one of the coolest Twitter handles I’ve heard of. Today’s walk was...

A gift from god

During a brief layover at the Gaziantep bus station today I stopped in to buy a bag of Doritos and a candy bar. The guy behind the counter recognized me. “Have you made it to Van?” he asked. “No,” I laughed, “not yet, it’ll be...

The soup guy

Mersin is one of my most important forward operating bases on the walk, and I have become a recognized regular at its bus station. Almost every time I pass through the station I stop for a bowl of soup at Palmiye Tantuni, making it, a bus station soup shack, my...

Punctuation provided by Ufuk Demir

When I left Istanbul six months ago to begin the walk, Ufuk Demir was the last person I spoke to before leaving the city I knew for two thousand kilometers of unknowns. Today I left Istanbul again, this time a different person, but I saw Ufuk again at the bus station....

Staying with Sadık Hakan

For the first couple days of my stay in Istanbul, I crashed at Hakan’s place. Hakan is one of the most patiently consistent followers of my walk across Turkey. He found out about the trip via the website Kickstarter.com back in September, shortly after I first...

This is not a gasoline station

On this trip I’ve spent the night in gasoline stations, bus maintenance yards, and public parks. I’ve camped by the side of the road and pitched my tent in muddy pear orchards after the farmers had gone home for the day. This week I get to add an Ottoman...

Journal page from October

I photographed this page in early October, when I was uploading scans of my journals in case anything happened to the actual notebooks. It was completely accidental, but I love the lighting on this page, and the way the pen’s clip is reflecting light. The...