Growing up in a small town of 2500 people in Canada means that I’m not a city person. I do love the glitz and glamour of them, but as far as staying long-term, it’s a hearty ‘no thanks’ from me. That was, at least, until Istanbul came into my life. It was here that my partner and I spent 2.5 months at the tail end of 2020 as we attempted to ride out the pandemic amongst a diverse group of other travelers that occupied our hostel.
But this wasn’t our first foray into Istanbul. In 2015 when we were flying from Varna, Bulgaria to Athens, Greece we had a few hours of layover at the airport. I had never seen an airport so packed with people, and I shuddered to think what the rest of the city looked like based on what we witnessed that day.