29th of March 2025, Kaş, Türkiye

I’ve just finished my first housekeeping duties today, and I am in shock by all the waste that was generated in less than 24 hours. 🤯 Let’s not even mention the water and energy used for cleaning all the sheets and towels.

I knew. But I didn't know it was that bad… Let me explain. This group of 32 Iranian people booked last-minute at the hotel/hostel I'm volunteering at. Yesterday, I was on kitchen duty, so I wasn't involved in preparing their rooms. Today though, as I was requested to help with housekeeping, I discovered that these 32 people who arrived yesterday at 6pm were here for just one night. It made me reflect on the amount of waste a very short hotel stay can involve, something I hadn't fully appreciated before seeing it firsthand. I hadn't really grasped the impact. Of course, I include myself in this problem. Even though I've been at this hostel for almost three weeks, I've definitely had my share of one-night stays in the past.

So this big group mostly stayed in the hotel part, with private rooms. As part of my housekeeping duties, I had to take out the bins in each room. Some literally had only a tissue inside, but the whole bin bag still went to waste. So, we changed every trash bag in the bedroom and bathroom of all the rooms these 32 people slept in last night. Along with this went all the single-use slippers (themselves wrapped in plastic, of course), the barely used toilet paper, the plastic water bottles where less than two sips were drunk, the tiny shampoo, soap, and conditioner bottles, and the single-dose coffee powder — although there's a massive coffee pot in the shared kitchen for everyone to use. Along with this went the sugar and/or tea sachets, and the stirrer, obviously. I am shocked. I took out 5 massive trash bags, and it was for 6 rooms only and the kitchen. And you can't find a single recycling bin in Türkiye. It's not a thing, at least not for individuals, hotels, or anywhere in the street. But I visited a recycling center a few weeks ago in Izmir with Tolga, as mentioned in a previous article. So they have the facilities in some places, but it's not implemented in houses, nor apparently in hotels.

Should we talk about the laundry? I wouldn't know what to say. I've just asked Peri, who's in charge of housekeeping, how many laundries she does a day. She couldn't answer me. She said it was going all day long. And there are 3 washing machines and 3 dryers. She also said that I should see how it is in summer. She showed me the bin behind me and said, "This, we change it 20 times a day in summer. It's always full." She also mentioned that I was the first person to ask her about those, and even notice how wasteful this industry is. She concluded by saying "but what can we do, this is what the people who come here want, they want clean rooms."

She's right. Although there are some ways to avoid many single-use items, hotels will remain a very polluting industry. So, what can we do as individuals? I believe that prioritising other accommodation types such as couchsurfing, guest houses, or camping, can help minimise our impact as travelers. 🤝

2nd of April 2025, Night bus to Göreme

Sometimes it hits me. And sometimes it’s harder to realise. This trip. It’s crazy‼️Sometimes I normalise it. I normalise saying ‘merhaba’ when I enter a shop, ‘teşekküler’ when they serve me çay. I normalise having gözleme for diner, and leblebi with a beer, watching the sunset on the sea from an antic amphitheatre. And sometimes it hits me. And it’s usually during the most random little moments. And now it just did. The bus station. It was so alive, loud, messy. And I loved it. My backpack on my back, I just walked around observing people. And this moment makes me realise how cool it is. Being alone, being able to say nothing and just wander around. Do not ask anyone for anything, just act exactly the way I want to and do whatever I want to. This is so cool. I adore this freedom. ❤️

3rd of April 2025, Göreme, Türkiye

I made it to Cappadocia and I can’t believe what I’m seeing! The nature is unbelievable. These rocks formation which grew from 🌋 volcanic eruptions hundreds of years ago, have been carved by different communities to create hidden houses and protect themselves from invasion and persecution from the 7th century BCE, up until the 20th century. This is insane to watch, I feel like I have landed on another planet! I visited the biggest underground city in the world, called Derinkuyu. More than 85 meters deep between 18 levels of tunnels, it was in near-constant use for thousands of years. From the Phrygians, to the Persians to the Christians of the Byzantine Era, it was abandoned in 1920 by Greeks. If you're interested, you can read more about it here: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220810-derinkuyu-turkeys-underground-city-of-20000-people.

It's so beautiful and impressive. But for many people, Cappadocia is not really about that. It's about the balloons. When I heard about Cappadocia from other travelers or social media, it was about the hot air balloons. In summer, up to 200 hot air balloons fly every morning at sunrise. My grandma asked me if I was going to go for a ride, to which I replied "If I avoid planes for travel, it's not to hop in a hot air balloon for pleasure.” You don't get the connection? Let me tell you more about balloons...