“The Day I Finally Made It to Turkey 🇹🇷”

My First Day in Turkey 🇹🇷

"From a Dream to Reality!"

I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student at a university in Pakistan. For as long as I can remember, Turkey had been my dream country.

My fascination with Turkey did not start with this exchange program. It started much earlier. I had read novels based in Turkey, seen pictures and videos of its beautiful cities, and imagined what it would feel like to actually be there one day. Turkey was a place I genuinely wanted to visit, and I always hoped that somehow I would get the chance.

Then, unexpectedly, my university offered me an opportunity to visit Turkey through an exchange program.

When I found out that I was actually going to Turkey, I was beyond excited. It felt like one of those dreams that you keep in your heart for years was finally becoming real.

I completed all the required procedures and prepared my documents. After all the paperwork, planning, and waiting, the day finally arrived.

15 September.

The day I left Pakistan for Turkey.

I was excited, but somewhere inside me, there was also a strange fear.

I had never really lived away from my family before. I had always been surrounded by them, and now I was leaving not only my home but my country as well.

I kept thinking:

“How will I survive without my family?”

My friends were travelling with me, which made things a little easier. But I knew that having friends beside you is different from having your family. There are still so many things you have to figure out and handle on your own.

And then, I landed in Turkey.

For a moment, everything felt real.

I was finally in the country I had dreamed about.

But instead of immediately feeling excited, I found myself completely confused.

I had no idea where I was supposed to go to collect my luggage. I didn't know where to get my bags or exactly what I was supposed to do next. Thankfully, my friends were with me. They made me sit down while they went to collect the luggage themselves.

And then came my first disappointment.

My luggage had been damaged during the flight.

I remember looking at my broken bag and feeling so upset. I had just arrived in my dream country, but my first few moments were already turning into a struggle.

Then we had to find a taxi.

Before coming to Turkey, we had already heard that we needed to be careful with taxis because tourists could sometimes be charged more than expected. So we were already cautious.

But having a lot of luggage made everything even more difficult.

We spent almost six hours at the airport, going from one place to another and trying to find a taxi. Some drivers would initially ask for a lower fare, but after seeing how much luggage we had, they would increase the price.

At that point, I was exhausted and honestly very disappointed.

I remember thinking:

“What is happening to me? I have just arrived in Turkey, and why is everything going wrong?”

After almost six hours of confusion, waiting, negotiating, and struggling with our luggage, we finally found a taxi driver who agreed to take us to our hotel.

Even then, the journey wasn't over.

Our hotel was quite far from the airport, and after reaching the area, we still had to walk with our luggage.

Then, I was completely exhausted.

For a while, I genuinely wondered whether coming to Turkey had been a good decision or not. The country I had imagined for so long was not beginning the way I had expected.

But then, something very simple happened.

We reached the hotel, put our luggage away, and later went outside with our friends.

And the moment I stepped outside...

I felt Turkey for the first time.

The air was cold.

I took a breath, and the cool air went deep into my lungs. After all the exhaustion and stress of those first six hours, that cold breeze somehow brought a strange sense of peace to my body and my heart.

I cannot properly explain that feeling.

It was as if my body was finally saying,

“You made it. You're here.”

I looked around at everything the streets, the surroundings, the unfamiliar atmosphere and suddenly, all those months of dreaming about Turkey felt real.

The airport experience had been exhausting.

The broken luggage had disappointed me.

The taxi struggle had frustrated me.

But that first breath of Turkish air was completely different.

It was peaceful.

It was exciting.

And somehow, it made me forget the difficult beginning for a moment.

I had imagined Turkey so many times through novels, pictures, and videos.

But standing there in person, breathing its cold air and looking around with my own eyes, I realized something:

Sometimes, the reality of a dream feels completely different from the dream itself.

And that was only the beginning of my Turkey journey.