From Türkiye to the Philippines - His Life of Adventure @denizaaras

Introduction to Deniz

0:02 That's why I don't have any friends in my hometown since I came here. So far, so good, but in my country, the police ambush you. Actually, the Philippine people are very welcoming and kind. I want to go there again. One advantage of living in Istanbul is the traffic. In Turkey, I've been to a lot of places.

0:23 In today's video, you're going to meet my friend Deniz. Deniz is from Turkey and he is currently living here in Dumaguete for the next couple of months. Deniz previously worked as a flight attendant around the world and is currently learning how to code, like many of my friends.

0:39 So without further ado, let's get into it. Hey YouTube, Alex here. We're here with my new friend Deniz, who has recently come here to the Philippines. He's originally from Turkey, and so we'd like to go ahead and welcome him to the show. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Deniz.

Former Flight Attendant Life

0:53 Hello guys, I am Deniz. I'm 31 years old, Turkish. I was a cabin attendant before in Turkish Airlines for like four years. After that, I had a medical condition, so I had to quit.

1:12 And then, after two years of depression, I decided to come to the Philippines to overcome my depression. And I came here, I'm living in Dumaguete since two months.

1:26 You mentioned you've been to 35 countries. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience?

1:31 Actually, I've been to many places, but not for a long time. For example, I've been to London, but only for two days. I've been to South Africa, but only for two days because it was job-oriented.

1:46 And one of the most popular and liked places for me is the UK and also Germany. I have traveled, I think, every continent except Australia.

2:02 It was a clean country, and everyone doing his business. Nobody approaches you and tries to sell you anything. You know, my country is like a third-world country, but the UK is a first-world country, so that's what I like most.

2:21 And also South Africa, I've seen penguins over there, and that was a great experience for me. And the sea lions, the travel was nice.

Choosing the Philippines

2:33 And also, I don't remember, but I really enjoyed while I was a cabin crew before. And I'm curious, you chose to come here to the Philippines. What about the Philippines appealed to you over maybe going to a different place?

2:54 Actually, I'm planning to go to different places in Southeast Asia in the future. But I came here before, I spent 10 days for vacation two years ago, and I found it cheap, very friendly people, the weather is nice, the beaches are very, very nice.

3:21 And I decided, why not? I can go there and live the dream. You went to Palawan and El Nido?

3:26 Yeah, I went to Palawan, El Nido. Well, it was like paradise, actually. Because I've been to a boat tour, there are some places that called Big Lagoon, Seven Commando Beach, and those were beautiful, beautiful places.

3:48 You know, I think everyone should see them someday. It seems like you lived a really interesting life, to see a lot of places. What are some other places in Southeast Asia that you want to check out?

3:59 Actually, I've been to Bali before, but for a short time. But I want to go there as well. And maybe Thailand. I've never been to Cambodia before.

4:15 Cambodia and Vietnam also. I want to visit those countries. Have you had any friends that have visited those places, or you're just hearing about it through your work?

4:27 For the Philippines, yeah, I have a friend here who lives almost three years, a Turkish friend. And also, he's married to a Filipina now.

4:40 Wow, yeah. But he returned to our country. I think his wife is going to go to Turkey as well, but after a couple of months or a couple of years, they will come back here again.

Overcoming Depression

4:55 Yeah, actually, in the first place, he recommended me to come to the Philippines and live the local life here, something like that.

5:06 How long have you been here this time? Two months.

5:09 Two months? Okay, got it. And did your friend come here to meet you, or no?

5:15 Actually, he was in Cebu before, a big city. And after that, he moved to Mactan and then here because his wife is from here.

5:29 Ah, I see. His wife's from different places. So that's where you got the idea to come here to Dumaguete instead of maybe Cebu?

5:39 Actually, it was my goal to overcome my depression. I have a disorder called bipolar disorder.

5:46 Yeah, and there is no cure for that, but I have to overcome it on my own. And I decided to come here and live.

5:56 Because in my country, I lost my job, I lost everything. I sold my car, sold my furnitures, and moved to my hometown after losing my job.

Life in Dumaguete

6:11 And then, there were no friends for me over there because I never lived in my hometown. Actually, because my father is retired Navy, and they moved to my hometown.

6:27 That's why I don't have any friends in my hometown. So I was depressed after I had been diagnosed. And I lay down on the couch, watched some Netflix and YouTube. That's all I did for two years.

6:49 And I gained like 25 kilos, and that was a bad time for me. And I decided after finally, I decided to change the way of living myself. And I came here to change it.

7:03 And since I came here, so far, so good. Everything is so far, so good.

7:09 Do you feel happier here? Yeah, yeah, I'm happier. Do you feel like the weather is better here?

7:14 Not better, but I am a summer person, I can say that. But the most is killing me, I'm sweaty all the time. But if you are at the beach, it's fine. We can jump on the water.

7:30 Do you go to the beach often here? Yeah, I'm going. Actually, every week, every two times a week.

Exploring Local Beaches and Diving

7:44 You said you like to go to Dauin. Did you go? Yeah, yeah, I like that one a lot. It's really nice for snorkeling. It's very nice because there are a lot of corals over there, and you can dive in. I've seen many colorful fish and corals.

8:03 It's very nice, but I'm going there two times a week, maybe one time. I've been to Cabugao before for diving.

8:13 Did you attend diving? Yeah, I did. It's a lot of fun. It's really a lot of fun.

8:18 And Valencia. I want to visit Siquijor. Actually, it's very far, but I heard very good beaches over there.

8:27 And you just ride a motorbike. Did you ride a motorbike back in Turkey?

Motorbike Adventures and Traffic

8:32 Actually, I don't have a motorbike license. Wow. So yeah, I had my father had a motorbike. I rode it for small distances. She had some practice.

8:44 Yeah, I have. And I came here, I bought a bike. I didn't rent, I bought directly. And if someone, if the police ask me for the driver's license, I show them my driver's license, but it's only for a car. But they don't understand.

9:05 It's okay. It's the thing, you know, when the police stop at checkpoints, if you stop before the checkpoint, they can't do anything to you.

9:18 But in my country, the police ambush you. Actually, if you turn left or right, there will be police. And if you drink alcohol, they will put you to jail, brutalizer. And then you can't drive for six months. They take your driver's license.

9:40 You feel like it's more relaxed here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it seems like too, like you're a guy that you like to have an adventure and you're curious to go and see other parts of the island.

Travels in Bohol

9:52 I think Dumaguete is a great base for you. Yeah, I went to Bohol. Yeah, wow.

9:58 What did you think about Bohol? I've never been there. It's very nice, actually. I have friends there and they have a resort. I spent, I think, four or five days, and I spent New Year's Eve over there. It was very nice.

10:16 They do, you know, the Philippine people are very welcoming and kind. So Bohol is actually very good. Chocolate Hills, the monkeys, very, very, very good place. And Alona Beach, I think it's Aloha, Alona or something like that.

10:31 It's like Boracay. I've seen some videos, and it's similar to Boracay. Actually, other you said you had some friends in Bohol. How do they like living there?

10:45 They are locals. They are local. Okay. They're okay. They're Filipino. Okay, I see, I see. And also, there is one Indian guy living there. He invested money for the resort.

11:01 And he was trying to get a working visa here, but I didn't talk very much with him because I had limited time with him. So I don't know his experience.

Learning to Code and Digital Nomad Dreams

11:17 But since, I think he was there two months living, and also he's working for a UK company. He's a software developer or something.

11:34 I'm actually beginning to learn software development, software engineering, the coding. I begin to learn JavaScript. I hope I find a good job here because I don't have a job yet. I only do YouTube, and I have some investment in stocks in my country's stock market.

11:58 That's all for now. So your hope long-term, you want to be able to work online and be a digital nomad? Actually, that's my dream. I don't want to work a 9 to five job.

12:11 And my ex-job was not like that. It was no time for a shift. You can go fly and then come back home. Never worked a 9 to five job.

Flight Attendant Travel Experiences

12:27 Yeah, I have experienced 9 to five jobs, but only two or three months because I was an export manager. My first job was export manager.

12:39 And also, so you were talking about your work as a flight attendant, and you worked eight days per week or eight days per month?

12:46 Yeah, because, for example, you are going to Mexico, and it took like one day the flight. You have to spend there at least two days and come back. It's like six days for one flight.

13:04 And you have to rest in your home as well, and that's why only 8 days to go.

13:11 What was Mexico like?

13:14 Mexico, I went there, I think, two or three times. Mexico City and Cancun. Cancun was very nice. It's like here, but the beach is very long and the white sand beach.

13:27 But the sea was wavy, like they have very big waves. Maybe you can go there for surfing or something. I don't know, I didn't surf before.

13:41 But Mexico City has a lot of cultural tours. I went to pyramids over there, the Mayan pyramids, and some river.

Bali Travel Experiences

13:56 Is there anywhere you want to go back to? Maybe Bali?

13:59 I've never been there. Can you tell us about Bali?

14:05 Actually, I didn't travel Bali a lot, but I went to the Ubud area, not Canggu. Ubud area was nice.

14:14 The area was nice, and when we went there with my crew, we decided to take a tour with a local man. He drove us around Ubud, picking us up from the hotel. We went to see monkeys; there were a lot of them. There were also some rice farms.

14:47 I drank Luwak coffee. Have you heard of it? It's made from coffee beans that have been eaten and excreted by an animal. They process it somehow, and you drink it. I think I've heard of that, but I've never tried it. It was good; it's a very strong coffee, actually, but it tastes good. I like strong coffees.

15:10 Is that popular there in Bali? I don't know. I think it's a tourist spot, not for locals. I didn't see any locals drinking it. Did you feel like Bali was a convenient place to live? I don't know; I've never tried to live there for a long time.

YouTube Channel and English Skills

15:30 Oh, I see. You visited? Yes, I visited for only two days because of my job. But it's nice that you get paid to travel. Yeah, yeah. Do you think that's a good way for people who want to travel but are concerned about budget? Obviously, travel is expensive. That's a good way, of course.

15:50 The best way to travel is to get paid. You travel and stay in the best hotels, five-star hotels. You get paid. You started a YouTube channel; tell us about that.

16:05 Yeah, I started a YouTube channel one or two months ago, something like that. Maybe not two months, maybe 40 days or something. I'm actually new in that business. I use my camera and take vlogs. My vlogs are actually in Turkish because I don't believe my English is so good.

16:32 I think your English is really good. But I could understand you. Yeah, yeah. I have some videos with full English content, but my audience is mostly Turkish. So, do you think a lot of young people in Turkey see you traveling and also want to travel?

Turkish Travel Aspirations

16:54 Of course. But the dream of a Turkish teenager is to travel because, you know, European kids are traveling in Europe easily, without a visa, without a passport, or anything. You can go from Germany to Austria or France. I've been to France and want to go there again because of the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées street. It was very good.

17:30 And Turkish people want to travel, but they don't have the budget. You know, the economic situation now is very hard to travel if you don't have money. So, do you think more Turkish people in the coming years will want to become digital nomads or have an online job?

17:57 If they have an online job or are remote workers, they can travel. If a person works for a Turkish company, they don't get paid well because of the difference between the Lira and the dollar. Unless you have a lot of money, it's not so easy to travel.

18:19 Yeah, I imagine maybe only close countries like Bulgaria, Georgia, Northern Cyprus, Iraq, Iran, and Azerbaijan. There are some places. Greece is very close to us, but they need a visa. The Southeastern countries don't need a visa from us, so it's easy to come here. But the airplane tickets are very expensive; it's around $500 to $1,000 for one way.

Turkish Youth and Economic Challenges

19:01 We decided to change our place, guys. We relocated. People were having a good time, and so we needed to find a little bit different backdrop. So, Dennis was telling us about... we talked about life in Bali.

19:15 Yeah, yeah. We were talking about Turkish people who want to travel to other countries. More about that, like you feel like a lot of young people in Turkey want to try living somewhere else?

19:30 Yeah, actually, for now, every young Turkish person has a dream like living abroad, like in Germany, the US, or Canada. Because of the economic situation of the country, they want to live in First World countries to gain more money with less effort.

19:53 We know that you can go do Uber in the US and earn a lot of money compared to my country. Because we are in Turkey, the minimum wage is like $600 a month. It's not that much. And Turkey is not a cheap country.

20:19 Some people think that because Turkey is developing, it must be cheap. But you're paying a lot of money to live a decent standard of living. For example, in the middle of Istanbul, if you want to rent a place, you have to pay at least $1,000 for a month, and that's probably still for maybe an older building or not a high-residence building.

20:52 Rents are way up in those years because we have very high inflation. You mentioned a lot of Turkish young people want to go to countries nearby. Do you think not they are going, they want to go?

Life Perspectives and Gratitude

21:09 They want to go. Okay, but what's stopping them? Yeah, money, money, money, of course. Because in Turkey, you don't have money in your young age, but you have time. But in the old days, you have money but don't have time anymore.

21:31 It's like that. For example, our retirement age is 65 for men. So how can you retire and travel the world after 65? You will be old; you will not be as energetic as you are at 25 or 35.

21:51 It puts things in perspective because a lot of young American people complain about the United States. But because you are living there and you only experience that, if you go to other places like India or Bangladesh, you experience how they live.

22:12 Or, for example, in Turkey, you will see and understand your expectations in life are very high in the US, UK, and European countries. One of the things I'm learning from you is to try to have more gratitude, to be more appreciative.

Future Plans in the Philippines

22:34 You mentioned wanting to become a programmer. Is there a certain place you want to have a base, or do you actually want to be in Southeast Asia, like the Philippines?

22:41 Philippines. Philippines is nice for me for now. I like the Philippines because it has 7,000 islands to explore. If you start today to go to one island after another, it takes 20 years. And there are very good islands over there, like Palawan, Boracay. I want to go to Siargao. Did you go to Siargao before?

23:12 Not yet. You should; it's very good for snorkeling. And I heard about Siargao from many people; they are telling me you should go there. You should go there and have a good party over there. You should go there for surfing and entertainment. The islands are really good.

Language Learning Strategies

23:37 Because how did you develop your English skills? I studied English Language and Literature in college. And I'm actually an English teacher. Wow. Yeah, but I never taught only; I did an internship, and that's all. And during my aviation years, I spoke with many, many people. Maybe I flew like 1,000 times, and of course, you have to serve them and talk to them to make them happy and comfortable while flying. So I improved my skills by talking.

24:20 Actually, do you feel like... I advise people in Turkey that you can't learn by writing or reading; you should talk the language. You should talk. I've never read a Bahasa language, but I know some Bahasa now because I've been here like two months. They are all talking Bahasa, and you hear some words that come to your ear as familiar, for example, 'selamat pagi' or something like that. You should speak the language to learn it.

Travels and Cuisine in Turkey

25:01 I think I believe that. Okay, Denise, you mentioned that you've traveled in Turkey, and I think a lot of my audience is curious about your country. Can you tell a bit more about your travels in Turkey?

25:12 In Turkey, I've been to a lot of places, like the western part, middle part, and the eastern part, but I've never been to the north part, like the Black Sea part. The western side of Turkey is more modern, but the eastern side is more traditional. You can feel the difference when you go there because the eastern part is like you can feel the traditional way. You can eat very good food in Turkey, very, very good food.

25:47 I think I believe the best cuisine is ours, not Italian, not Mexican. It's ours because, you know, the Ottoman Empire was like 600-700 years of ruling across three continents. We have a very good cuisine. For example, when I was in Turkey, I traveled only for food, for eating baklava in Gaziantep, for example, for eating kebab in Adana. You should visit those places if you want to eat.

26:26 You can eat Mexican food in the US, but in Mexico, it's different. Adana is very good for kebabs. You should visit and eat kebabs. Adana is very nice for kebabs and cuisine. Every part of Turkey has a different kind of cuisine. Like in the western side, where I live, we eat more olive oil-based foods; we call it 'mezze.' You know, you should try the best drink, Rakı, with mezze and fresh fish. We eat like that.

Life in Istanbul and Immigration Issues

27:09 But in the eastern side, they eat more beef, lamb, more kebabs, something like that. But the best way of living in Turkey, the best thing for living in Turkey is you can do anything you want if you have money. You can do anything you want. For example, Istanbul is like New York because almost 20 million people live in Istanbul now, and you can find anything you want in Istanbul.

27:42 Have you traveled in Istanbul? Yeah, I lived four years in Istanbul because my base in Turkish Airlines was in Istanbul. Yeah. Do you ever miss living in Istanbul?

27:52 If you have money, Istanbul is the best place to live. Only one disadvantage for living in Istanbul: traffic. Traffic is killing you. You can stay in traffic like 3 hours, 4 hours a day. It's very crowded. 20 million people, you know. We take immigrants from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, everywhere.

28:20 It's easy to come to our country, not like borders are open, something like that. But it's a very bad influence to our country, actually. I believe that if we have so many immigrants, it's not good. It's not good for our economy, our politics, our situation in the world.

Economic Situation and Currency Exchange

28:44 Has Turkey had a lot of immigrants since you were young, or is that more recent? No, actually, when I was young, like until 2010, maybe 2007, after that, everything has changed. For example, the dollar was like, one dollar was 6 Lira, maybe 5. And after some point, it goes like 10, 15, 20, 30, 35. Now it's like the inflation, the economy is going down. By that, I look at the peso and Turkish currency, and it's going like that. The peso is always up. It's like no inflation here.

29:32 I think because I came here two years ago, one Turkish Lira was 3 pesos, and now one Turkish Lira is 1.6, 1.7. Only for two years. But the dollar was the same. It was 57 or 58, and it's still 57 or 58.

Advice for Turkish Travelers and Pork

29:53 That's a beautiful thing about being a digital nomad. For young people, people that they want to try something different, for Turkish people, I'd advise them to learn a skill and learn English. Learn English, actually, is the best because you can travel the world with only English, maybe Spanish, but I don't believe Spanish is enough.

30:20 Have you met any other Turkish people in your travels? Actually, here there is a man who runs a restaurant here, a Turkish man. I went to his place, I ate some food, but it's not Turkish food, actually, because he converted to Filipino for to sell, of course. Because he says, 'I'm selling shawarma.' Shawarma is doner, you know, it's the same thing.

30:50 Yeah, but it's not the same in Turkey. In Turkey, doner is the best, but in here, they use pork. We don't eat pork. Yeah. You don't eat pork in Turkey? Yeah, we don't eat pork, we don't sell pork. You can't buy any pork in Turkey, maybe in Istanbul you can find any pork, but you probably pay a lot for it too.

Recommended Turkish Destinations

31:13 I don't know the price because I didn't. You don't eat it, so it doesn't matter to you. I tried it in different countries, like bacon, maybe it's okay, but I cannot say I'm a real Muslim. That's why I can't eat pork.

31:32 If a foreigner wants to visit Turkey, where should they go? Istanbul, Antalya for swimming and vacation. Antalya is the best place in Bodrum, western side of Turkey. And also for food travel, like cuisine travel. For example, you can go Adana, Gaziantep. There are many places, Kayseri. But you should visit Istanbul, Antalya, Bodrum.

Ankara and Izmir

32:12 If you want to learn about our great leader Atatürk, you should visit Ankara. That's the historic capital, right? This is the capital now, actually. It's not, maybe some people believe Istanbul is the capital, but it's not. Ankara is the capital of ours.

32:31 And you've been to Ankara, of course? Many times. What's it like there? Ankara is for 9-to-5 job workers. It's like, we call it the 'Gray City' to Ankara. It's like everyone is working and going for government in Ankara, all nearly mostly everyone.

32:58 But we have our leader's grave over there, the Anıtkabir. We call it the Monument of the Leader, Atatürk. You can visit Izmir also. Izmir is like a European city. It's close to Greece and has effects from the ancient Greek in Izmir.

Deniz's YouTube Channel and Outro

33:28 Great. Well, Deniz, can you tell us a bit about your YouTube channel? I'm taking videos about the Philippines, like having extreme or funny moments about the Philippines. I'm sharing those. I'm taking my videos in English, but I add subtitles in English. So if you want to subscribe to my channel, I will be very happy.

33:55 And that's all. Well, thanks so much, Deniz. We really appreciate your time today. It's been a wonderful interview. Guys, go check out his channel. I mispronounced his name so many times in this video. It's actually Deniz, Z with a Z. Yeah, with a Z. You can tell I'm a classic American mispronouncing things.

34:11 Please give us a thumbs up if you like this interview. Comment down below, maybe you're watching from Turkey, maybe you're watching from the United States, maybe you're watching even from here in the Philippines. Finally, if you enjoy this content and want to see more content like it, please subscribe to the channel down below. Thank you so much, and we'll see you soon, everybody.

34:28 Thank you, Deniz.