Many people spend their working life with their nose to the grindstone to support their family and when the kids have flown the nest to provide a nest egg for their retirement. But when retirement actually arrives many find that they can’t wait to escape the dull British climate and look to foreign shores to spend their twilight years. We catch up with one British couple who are spending their retirement on the coast.
Meet the Browns
Two and a half years ago Dave Brown, 62 and his wife Janette, 55, moved from Saint Ives in Cambridgeshire where they had spent most of their lives to Ciftlik, a small Turkish village near the coastal town of Fethiye. Their reasons for choosing Turkey above all other countries on offer were simple, Dave explains, ‘We decided to come to Turkey because we fell in love with the place when we were on holiday here six years ago. We love the relaxed lifestyle and there was so much less pressure here compared to life in the UK.’ Back home, Dave Brown was employed as a mechanic, working on John Deere machinery, mainly golf course grass cutting equipment, whilst Janette worked as a manageress at a retirement development, looking after 41 residents. Both enjoyed their work and it provided them with the living they needed to raise their two children, however a change of management changed Dave’s view of his work and he decided it to take early retirement because he knew that if he and Janette fulfilled their dreams of moving to Turkey, they could afford to live on his pension.
The Cost of Living
Dave and his wife brought a newly built four bedroom, fully furnished apartment on a small complex for around 80,500 Euros, ‘We decided on the village of Ciftlik, because it is close to Fethiye, which is a town catering for all our needs. The best thing about our village is that it is out of the tourist area. It is a very traditional Turkish village and I love it.’ They bought their property from Melody Houses in Fethiye and Dave says, the company offered a professional service, making his move here trouble free thanks to them. Dave and Janette estimate their monthly bills at around 400 lira (180 Euros) and sometimes they spend less than this. Dave says that petrol is the most expensive outgoing but it is still a lot less than in the UK. Settling In
Janette found it a little hard to settle when she first moved to Ciftlik, because she missed her family and friends so much, but Dave made sure that she was able to go back to visit them frequently, ‘I usually go back to England three or four times a to visit family and friends, but I’m getting more and more settled here now.’ Dave and is quite happy now, she is at the moment having Turkish lessons privately from a very good teacher, but like all us oldies its harder to learn than if you are of school age but she seems to love it and is very keen to carry on with it.’ Going back to the UK is not something Dave looks forward too, although he does enjoy seeing his family he secretly confesses that he can’t wait to get back to the sunny paradise of Turkey, ‘the wife drags me back to UK at Christmas, for around two weeks but believe me it is plenty long enough for me and I’m so glad to get back to my home in Ciftlik.’ Cultural Differences
It would be unrealistic to think that moving abroad doesn’t come without its drawbacks and the Brown’s confess that there is one thing about Turkish life that bugs them both, Dave clarifies, ‘One thing we really don’t like is that things that are arranged hardly ever happen on time. You wait a week and still no-one seems to panic, because they live by the belief there is always tomorrow, and this is really frustrating for us.’ On a positive note though, the couple have time to do things they never really had time to do in the UK, they spend their time walking around the beautiful towns, villages and countryside, swimming, cooking meals and just enjoying the simple life like being together. Living in a country where the dominant religion is Islam naturally brings many cultural differences as Dave confesses, ‘the man at the mosque calling everyone to prayer can be a bit annoying at 5.30 each morning, but after a while you even learn to expect it and it doesn’t bother you. We always try to remember that we are guests in this country and we must accept them with their beliefs.' Dave says, ‘Many female ex pats, don’t like the slaughter of animals at the end of Ramadan because it means seeing a lamb hanging outside someone’s house with its throat cut and it does upset them, but it’s the Muslim way of life and I can accept that.’Thinking of Doing the Same?
Moving abroad can be unsettling and involves a degree of mental strength to cope with the change and cultural differences. Dave Brown however would not swap his move for the world, ‘I would never move back to the UK unless absolutely forced too! And I have no regrets whatsoever about moving away and coming here to Turkey. I love every minute of it and never ever want it to end, it is my home now!’ He does have some very valuable advice for anyone thinking of moving to Turkey, ‘ex pats who are thinking of buying properties here have to be careful that they don’t get ripped off by Turkish people who want to make a quick buck. I would suggest they use a recommended company when buying property and do not go with small private companies.’ By 2010 one in eight people over 55 in the UK will have retired abroad - will you be one of the ones left wondering what it would be like to live in the sun?
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