Traveler Interviews February 2020 Guests: Elgezenler is on the Road

Arzu and Aydın Elgezen, February 2020 guests of Traveler Interviews. Elgezenleryolda.com They have a blog named and an active Instagram account with the same name. Our acquaintance was also instrumental in this, it was very nice. Husband and wife are both very sweet people, they also have a cat named “Travel”, although not as sweet as they are.

When I knew them, they were traveling by motorcycle and camping at every opportunity. The Elgezen family moved to Amsterdam last year when Aydın got a job opportunity. We talked to them about living in another country and their travels, enjoyable reads.

First, could you briefly tell us about yourself, who are the Elgezens, what do they do? 

Hello, we are Arzu and Aydın. Oh, we also have a four-legged baby 'Travel', let's not forget that too 😊

Arzu was born in 1988 in Edirne, Aydın in 1986 in İskenderun, and Travel in 2018 in Istanbul.

Actually, everything started in 2008… While I was studying at the Faculty of Business Administration at Istanbul University, I suddenly met Aydın as a result of my enthusiasm to attend a dance course and we never parted again (Have I mentioned that Aydın is my dance teacher). When we crown our togetherness with a signature in 2012, I become Elgezen, that is, Elgezenler 😊 And when I start to travel, 'Elgezenler is on the road' 😊

We mainly travel by motorcycle, and we prefer our accommodation to camping. We can say that it is indispensable for us to throw ourselves into nature whenever we have the opportunity and to get away from the crowd of the city.

What do we do when we are not traveling, we are either making plans for our next trip or meeting with our traveler friends and listening to their adventures.

While residing in Istanbul until April 2019, we continue our adventure in the Netherlands after Aydın started working at Booking.com.

How did this love of traveling begin? 

I think the love of traveling has always existed in us since we knew ourselves, frankly, I couldn't find anything that we can say that it started like this at this time. Since the first moment we met (2008), we had the opportunity to travel to many destinations, both domestically and abroad. In the first years, we kept a diary by taking notes in notebooks, we talked about the points we liked at the meeting with friends and we shared our plans with those who asked.

We realized that we are travelers in 2015 and after the peak of social media 😊 We now had a social media account and website to share our travels and experiences with more people.

What does traveling mean to you? Which one is wandering, escaping, going away, seeing new places, meeting new people, getting out of the novelty routine? What is the motivation that drives you? 

E) All of them 😊 Our motivation is actually a potpori made from all of these. 

In every journey we embark on, we seek at least a few of them; Seeing new places and meeting new people is our biggest passion. After living in Istanbul for years, it is natural to want to get away from the crowds and take a breather. Sometimes we hit the road just to try new things.

For us, traveling is not just being in a place, but the whole of adventures we will experience until we leave the house and enter the house again. We don't like that score keeping thing either. The desire to go to the places we love more than once can often set us back on the road. In fact, after a certain period of time, there is no need for motivation, travel turns into a lifestyle.

Have you recently moved to Amsterdam? How is it to live abroad, can you travel there more easily and frequently, especially within Europe? Do you have any advice for those who want to settle abroad?

Imagine a life where you feel like you're on vacation every time you go out on the street 😊 Just kidding, that's how we really feel right now, let's see what more time will bring for us. 

Yes, traveling in general is easier here. First of all, since we are in the Schengen area, we do not have a visa problem. Compared to Turkey, flight ticket prices are more affordable. Apart from this, when we consider train, bus transportation and car rental options, we can say that we have many reasons to leave the house. 

The recommendations section is quite long, but to summarize; Of course, everything is not rosy, but when we compare it with life in Istanbul, we can say that there is a psychological relief on us. It will be easier for you to find the city/country that will meet your expectations if you clearly write down the reasons for your desire to live abroad. If you put someone who is fond of the sea, does not like bicycles, is a fan of luxury cars, and always prefers to eat out, they wouldn't be happy if you put them in our place right now ☺ 

Among the places you have been to so far, what are the places that impressed you the most, what is your favorite place/s? Why? You can answer separately. 

All of Italy especially Tuscany, Hallstatt, Mount Etna and Thailand.

If you are aware, we did not count many cities because all cities in Europe are similar to each other. The points that we are affected by are places we have not seen before. Maybe our second volcano will make us forget Etna ☺

What are the pros and cons of traveling as a couple? Have you ever traveled alone? 

It may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but since the day we've been together, we've never traveled alone except for business trips 😊 We love traveling together and there are some unwritten business divisions between us during travel, which makes the trip easier for both of us and even more fun. We collect all our memories in life together, including travel 😊. We do not see any minuses as well as counting the pluses. We think everyone should go around in pairs 😀

Where did you make your first trip abroad? What would you do differently if you went to the same place today? 

Our first overseas trip was to Thassos, Greece, at that time Thassos was not yet invaded by the Turks 😊 Our story began like this; My boss went and liked it very much, and when he came, he told us about it. He didn't just tell, "I'm giving the car, it has green insurance, come on, you go too!" said. When we were saying, "How can we go, we don't have a budget on the side, expenses, accommodation, plan ..." and so on, he struck the final blow by saying "Gasoline is on me". Of course, it was stupid not to go after that 😊 Passports came out right away, accommodation was arranged and our first abroad trip started with Maxi Doblo (indispensable for uncles and in-laws) ... 😊 We went for 4 more years in a row. We definitely stuck a Thassos for every summer vacation 😊 Of course, this was not because we wanted to do something missing or different the first time, but because we loved the island, the shopkeepers, the food and the beaches. 

Of course, after our first trip abroad went very well, we couldn't resist and bought tickets to Barcelona and Vienna a few months later 😊

What has been the most interesting thing that has happened to you on your travels so far? Maybe you can tell us a few stories. 

There are many stories to tell, in fact, they may not be very interesting, but let me tell you the first thing that comes to mind 😊

Thassos: Year 2016. 

We have determined Thassos as the last stop of the Balkan Tour we made by motorcycle in order to have a sea vacation for a few days. Now that Thassos is a popular place and we left the reservation at the last minute, the places we stayed before were full, we didn't have much choice in terms of accommodation. Since we will stay for two days, we make our reservation in a clean, affordable place closest to the center. We spend the first day with the sea and rest. On the second day, to celebrate both the end of the tour and my birthday, we decide to have a nice meal in a tavern against the sunset and then take a tour in the bazaar. Just then, a lot of notifications start coming to our phone. In messages, on social media, on the news, everywhere… it is written that there was a coup. We wander around without knowing what to do, without looking up from the phones. We are bored, the faces are low… We have an older sister who is a tradesman in the bazaar, we met the first year we went, and every year in the following years, we stop by and ask about the situation and chat. That's when we see him. It stands out from the crowd and comes right to us. How are you, when did you come … after a short conversation, his face drops and he says, “Do you know what happened?” he asks. When we say, "Yes, there is, we don't like it anyway", he consoles us with "Everything will be fine, don't worry...". We love how caring and loving he is. Then we decide to go back to our room because we are not in a good mood and in order to be able to connect to the internet and follow the news better. At the entrance we see the hotel owner (Eleni). He saw the news, we had a little chat. He says, “If you need to call somewhere, you can use the phone”. We thank him and go to our room and follow the news until midnight, correspond with people, they stopped my sister's bus on the bridge, we are trying to hear from her… Then suddenly there is a knock on the door, Eleni comes. "Sorry to bother you, but when I heard your voice, I was curious to ask, is everything alright?" he says politely. When we said, "We don't have much information right now, we follow the news all the time, we don't even know if we will be able to go through customs tomorrow," he said, "If you want, we can call the customs together in the morning and try to find out the situation. If there is a problem, don't worry, all the rooms including yours are occupied, but I'll give you my room. You guys try to sleep now,” she says. Tears fall from each of our eyes 🙁 We learned that there was no problem from a few people without having to call the customs, we said goodbye to Eleni, thanked her for everything and set off at noon. We still correspond with him from time to time, we direct those who go to Thassos to him 😊

Cinque Terre: Year 2017

We are at the Cinque Terre stop of our second motorcycle tour of Italy with a couple of our dear friends (@motorlukasif). Since our luggage is small when traveling by motorcycle, we travel with few items. That's why we try to rent houses with washing machines every 2-3 days. Our house in Cinque Tere was also one of these houses. When we reach the house, which we arrived late, we immediately wash our clothes and lay them on the laundry on the balcony, and we go to bed because we will leave early in the morning the next day. We hear a little rain noise in the evening, but somehow we don't care much if it's covered. Let's see when we wake up in the morning, the laundry is soaked, just as the rain that evening has fallen sideways. We dry things like socks, gloves, buffs with the dryer right away, but there is nothing we can do for the others. We decide not to put wet laundry in motorcycle bags because it would stink, but put it in a garbage bag and then put it between us on the motorcycle. We also drill a few holes in the bag so that they do not smell in the bag again, so that they get air on the way. While I was on my way to Florence, while I was turning the bag inside out and letting it breathe, something suddenly came to my mind and I started to practice. First, Aydın connects with the intercom* and says with a burst of laughter, "What are you doing there?" he says, while we burst into laughter, @motorlukasif connects to Aydın and says, "Am I seeing it wrong, or is Arzu drying your laundry?" says. Actually, yes, that's exactly what I do 😊 I took the laundry out in pairs and dried it all the way to Florence, trying to keep it up and not tossed around. It was a bit of a parade and the people around had a lot of fun, but oh well, it worked out in the end. Those who want can watch the video on @motorlukasif youtube channel 😊 .

*intercom: A device attached to helmets, connecting via bluetooth, enabling motorcyclists to communicate with each other.

One of the most asked questions is, where does the water of the mill come from to travel so much? 

In fact, there is neither a mill nor water ☺ We can say that we dig small wells to reach water before each trip ☺ 

We were white-collar workers with good income in Istanbul conditions, but we did not have any extra income. We used to work for a year and take a trip for a week or two and pay off our debts for a year. Although these escapades sounded good at first, the desire to do it more often prevailed. Campaigning airline companies started to determine the country we will travel to, and we started to arrange our flight tickets 6-7 months in advance, wherever it was cheaper. When we booked our accommodation 2-3 months in advance, we were both cheaper and our daily life was not affected because we divided the tour budget into parts. We were trying to get our travel allowance by throwing a certain amount of foreign currency aside every month. This is how we organized our travels for a long time. 

However, the economic developments in our country started to make it difficult for us to travel. In order not to fall behind this passion, we decided to live a minimal life. We do not spend money on clothing unless we need it, we prepare meals at home rather than eating out, we host our friends at home. We brew our coffee and fill the thermos without leaving the house, and we make an unpredictable profit from it ☺ In short, what you spend is under your control, rather than what you earn, try it for a few months and you will see the difference ☺

Do you have any tips or suggestions for those who say they want to go away too? 

Contrary to what many travelers say, there is no such thing as free travel, but it is possible to travel with little money! Begin by becoming aware of this and exploring your surroundings. Our country is a paradise for diversity! Start from inside Turkey, then make getaways to passportless countries, then target visa-free people. Be sure that it takes years to even do these things properly ☺ 

Live with a plan! Set a yearly goal in front of you, what do you want to see, how much budget and how much research do you need for these. Make friends who will be partners in your plan, increase your motivation, but be prepared to continue on the road without them.

And don't forget to follow ElgezenlerYolda on social media channels ☺

Finally, a classic question of mine: "Does he who reads a lot, or does he who travels a lot?"

Something is always missing in our spontaneous travels. Traveling without reading or researching gives us only a short-term satisfaction. However, if you have done research about the region you are going to, everything you see makes more sense to you. It is definitely a completely different feeling to visit a place knowing its history and culture. You travel more hungrily with the desire to match what you read with what you see. That's why both are very important, but for us, the order should be read-travel and read while traveling 😊

Thank you very much for this nice interview, Elgezenler, hope to see you on the road all the time…

Don't forget to follow Elgezen on Instagram > @elgezenleryolda

Stay on the Road