2013 - How it went

2013 was an interesting one for me. I spent the new year’s eve in Medellin and travelled throughout Colombia in January.

I loved Colombia and felt very close to the Colombian people. Due to similar socioeconomic dynamics I was often reminded of Turkey.

When I was in Colombia, I received a news that I’ve been waiting for over a decade. I was invited to take the Canadian citizenship oath.

In February, I officially became a Canadian citizen. A life-long goal was finally achieved, the process was long and stressful, but it was well worth it. I was the newest, a very proud member of one of the greatest nations.

I made the decision to come to Canada when I was 18 and at that time I could pick any country (USA, UK, Australia etc.). I’m glad that I made the best decision 13 years ago.

While leaving Colombia I stopped by in Miami for a pre-party to celebrate the news. Sunshine on a North American beach in January felt great, especially before heading to Vancouver.

I had a goal of being with my family 1-2 months a year. So I came back to Turkey and stayed there until the summer. In June, it was time to discover new places, again. Poland, Ukraine and Romania are where I spent a few months. Lviv was the only city in Ukraine where I could see myself spending more time in the future. Other two cities I’ve visited in Ukraine (Kiev and Kharkov) were nice for a few weeks, but not too interesting for longer.

Krakow in Poland was too touristy for me, I probably went there in the wrong time, but Wroclaw was a great small city.

I didn’t have much chance to discover Romania and just spent a week in Bucharest and Brasov. My first impressions about the country and the people were great. Romania was a country I knew very little about, but I do have a great curiosity now. I’ll definitely head back there soon (not in the winter!).

Between September and November I was in Vancouver where I got to catch up with my closest friends. Nothing ever changes in Vancouver.

Since I was back in North America, I wanted to head down to San Francisco for a week to meet some tech startups. The tech industry in Bay area is no wonder the top in the world. The environment was different than all of the tech hubs I’ve ever been. People were friendly, open-minded, adventurous and had access to top resources to have a successful tech startup. I fall in love with the city (again), but thought it wasn’t the best place to bootstrap my idea, not at this time.

I’m back in Istanbul now and will focus on some projects during the winter. I’m looking forward to 2014 and will talk about my plans soon. If you’re visiting Istanbul in next few months, say hi!