Alex Smith
Every month Alex Smith shares his perspective on the expats of Kaş. You can also take a look at some other expats of Turkey...
This month he writes about the different types of visitors to Kaş.
“Living in the Kaş area as an ex-pat has many advantages and possibly a few disadvantages (if you consider the lack of access to a large shopping mall a disadvantage)…”
One of the advantages I would point to is the influx of visitors to the town particularly in the summer months when the season gets into full swing. If you live here long enough friendships evolve with a number of these visitors some of whom own properties here and some who are just regular holiday makers. I reckon I can place such visitors into three distinct categories which most of us ex-pats will be able to readily identify.
Firstly the serial recidivists who simply cannot stay away. A substantial number of the visitors are seen here two, three, even four times a year. They, like a good proportion of us living here, have got the “Kaş bug” and make every effort to get here as much as possible. Seeing such people regularly means that inevitably bonds develop and that the social scene for the ex-pat becomes varied and more interesting. The visitors (most of them hate being referred to as tourists) also have varied agendas on their trips here. These include diving, hiking, cycling, kayaking and just generally kicking back and relaxing in the streets, beaches and bars of Kaş. Love has been in the air recently too. Two serial recidivists recently sealed their engagement in Kaş with a beautiful ring in a romantic setting followed by an excellent celebration on Zem Zem boat which some of us were fortunate enough to be invited on. Good luck to you Graham and Sarah you make a lovely couple and we eagerly anticipate your “dream wedding” which will take place in Kaş next year. More than one of these visitors has made comment to me that go roughly like this: “I don’t consider coming to Kaş as going on holiday at all anymore it feels more like coming home”. If you’re reading this Jay then you’ll probably recognise that comment! Anyway from the ex-pat’s perspective it’s certainly good to see them and life here is all the richer for it.
Secondly there are the newcomers, or as our American friends would say “the rookies”. A good number of these appear every year and they emanate from various sources. A common one these days is some kind of internet contact with somebody already based here. I have recently met two people who have contacted a Kaş resident on an internet travel site for recommendations for somewhere in Turkey that would be a good place to find a property to rent for a couple of months. They were searching for somewhere there is a good scene, the locals are friendly and there is a relaxed atmosphere. Personally if I were to be pressured into writing a definition of Kaş for the Oxford English dictionary that’s pretty much what I would come up with. So bingo for them. Members of this category tend to ask a lot of questions about the place but we don’t mind that, we know the answers and quite frankly I enjoy sharing what Kaş has to offer as long as I’m not required to rub shoulders with Brits in football shirts.
Thirdly there are the family members of which there are a great many. Living here tends to make your family rather fond of you all of a sudden. Virtually everyone in the ex-pat community has regular visits from their families ranging from parents through to grandchildren. What’s not to like? This is an ideal place for a family holiday, you can chose your time of year and control what the temperatures will be like accordingly (unless you are limited to the school holidays when essentially it will be hot, hot, hot and if not hot then Scorchio) For the British ex-pat living so far from home this is a real fillip, parents and offspring have an added incentive to come and see you and you can reciprocate those visits out of season when fares are less expensive and travel less hectic. Over the last few years I have become friendly and very closely acquainted with many immediate and extended family members of friends of mine. This is something that only happened with very close friends of mine in my previous life and, I think, something to celebrate.
All of this certainly makes for an interesting, varied and sometimes exhausting social life. I think that for most of us here, for whom the daily grind is but a distant memory, it is an experience we would be loath to be without and presents itself as yet another good reason for living here as we do.
