👋 Hi friend,
Big changes are brewing around here, and the countdown is on...
No, it's not an April Fool's joke. I'm actually leaving Istanbul soon!
I recently heard someone mention the idea of “soulmate cities,” and if I had to pick mine, it would be Istanbul.
Even with the multitude of changes — some good, some bad — in both myself and my soulmate over the past decade, it’s still a place that has somehow always felt like home. Through health scares and then a worldwide pandemic, my apartment became my little oasis of comfort in a chaotic world. I’ll always be grateful for that.
This week, I started downsizing, selling or giving away the things I’ve accumulated over the years. I’m pretty minimalist, but every time I move, I ask myself: how (and why and when) did I end up with so much stuff? In a way, it feels freeing to let it all go — to pass on things I once treasured to those who could use them.
I first arrived in Istanbul on May 4, 2015, so today marks exactly nine years and eleven months since that day. Soon after I round out the decade, I’ll be heading back to the U.S. for a bit. For now, it’s a one-way ticket, but we’ll see.
When I was getting ready to leave Honolulu, I made a "bucket list" of things I'd wanted to do there but never got around to... It was fun checking things off the list with friends who wanted to join in, like going around the entire island by public bus, a sunrise hike at Makapuu, the omakase menu at Sushi Sasabune and having lunch on the grounds of I'olani Palace.
Perhaps I'll have to start one soon for my beloved Istanbul as well. Have you ever made a bucket list before leaving someplace that felt like home?
