Trapped in Turkey, Again

I didn’t think I’d find myself in this situation again, but here we are.

I’m unable to travel outside of Turkey until the end of July.

Two years ago, I renewed my resident permit for the first time just days after a new system was put in place– which meant that no one knew how anything was supposed to work, and I was unable to travel until I had my new card in hand. And that could take up to three months.

Ultimately, it took eight weeks. In the meantime, I nixed my original summer travel plans in the Balkans and planned a three part “Trapped In Turkey” tour, traipsing around the southeast (before it was a no-go zone), biking for four days and 150km around Lake Iznik, and relaxing for a few days on the beach at Kabak. Though I never intended to take that trip, it ended up being one of the most rewarding travel adventures I’ve had since moving here. I experienced such a wide swath of Turkey and learned so much about the culture; it was all just so FASCINATING.

Still, I hoped to never find myself stuck in Turkey again. I love being here BY CHOICE, but getting wound up in visa red tape is claustrophobic.

Fast forward to this year. The system has again been changed–“to make it easier,” haha funny joke– and somehow my current foreigner’s ID number didn’t make it into their new (apparently broken) system. So instead of mailing in my application before my residency expired (which would have, yes, totally been easier!) I was assigned an appointment at the end of July to do a “first time application,” even though I am a renewal.

My resident permit expired in mid-April.

Before my appointment in July, I cannot leave Turkey.

Sure, there are loopholes. I can leave Turkey and pay a fine, but when I reenter I need to schedule a new appointment, which could be even later than July. After the appointment, I can travel for 15 days at a time until I have my new card in hand. I’m not willing to wait longer than I already have to get this process going. I want to travel.

So what’s a girl to do? I won’t lie, I’ve been a mess over this for weeks;  the day I realized that I would have to cancel a trip to my friend’s wedding in Germany, I cried. But I’m an optimist, and more and more resilient every year, and don’t like to let the system get me down.

I made a list of places I want to travel in Turkey that I haven’t yet seen. This is a chance to explore and dig deeper again, even if I’d rather have it be more of a choice. This is also an opportunity to sit with all the emotions and roller coaster feelings I’ve had in 2016, and not use travel as a way to run away from them.

There are less than two months left until I can get that sweet piece of paper and travel outside of Turkey. Soon after, I’ll go to Boston and eat oysters and contemplate Spy Pond and walk those nostalgic streets. Maybe I’ll hop over to Tel Aviv to see some friends and eat hummus. I’ve been dreaming of visiting a good friend in India. I want to return to the Balkans. I want to go to Ukraine.

I truly believe that sometimes limitations can lead to the richest experiences. So I can’t leave Turkey. So I canceled a trip I was desperately hoping to take. So what now?

Now, from these frustrating lemons, I will make lemonade.