It’s Not a Holiday Anymore: Life in My Second Home by the Sea

View From The Hills Above Beldibi

As I sit on the balcony, sipping my morning coffee in the sunshine, I find myself reflecting on the past five weeks I’ve spent here — in my second home, in Marmaris, Turkey.

We bought our apartment twenty years ago, and since then (and even a little before), this peaceful corner of the world has been a part of our lives. For most of those years, it was a part-time escape — something to squeeze in between work commitments and other travel plans. We’d visit maybe once or twice a year, for five or six weeks at most, always juggling holiday time and other destinations.

But now we’re retired, and everything feels different. In the best way.

These days, we tend to spend three or four extended breaks here each year, usually four or five weeks at a time. This trip — our first of 2025 — is nearly over, and I already feel the pull to return, even as I look forward to the next adventure. We still travel often, but our hearts are firmly anchored back home with our children and grandchildren, who always come first.

Still, Turkey has given me so much over the years — peace, perspective, a slower rhythm — and I’ll always be grateful for that. It’s in quiet moments like this, with the morning sun warming my shoulders and a strong coffee in hand, that I feel completely at home.

We’re based in Beldibi, a quiet enclave just on the edge of Marmaris. It’s a million miles away (figuratively speaking) from the noisy bars and holiday crowds in Armutalan. Yet the town centre is just a ten-minute bus ride away when we fancy a bit of buzz. Our neighbours are all Turkish — kind, welcoming, endlessly helpful — even though my language skills are best described as "enthusiastic but very limited." I’m always aware that I’m the outsider here, the part-time immigrant with a taste for gin and tonic and a soft spot for R.E.M.

In the early years, we were your classic tourists: flying in for a couple of weeks, eating out every night, soaking up the atmosphere in the Marina. These days? Our second home really feels like home. Sure, we still eat out once or twice a week, but now you’re just as likely to find us walking the backstreets, watching TV, doing the shopping, catching up on laundry, or tackling a bit of DIY.

I've fallen into a comforting routine. I’m up early most mornings, out the door with my Tilley hat, camera, and a podcast or some music in my earbuds. My wife exercises at home with YouTube — each of us in our groove. On cooler days, we walk into Marmaris or even all the way to İçmeler. We do a big shop every couple of weeks, cheer on Wolves from the sofa, and stay connected to family through WhatsApp and FaceTime.

Photography keeps me creatively busy, along with this blog and my website. Since retiring, I’ve finally had the time to dig into the things I enjoy. I’m not a professional writer — not even a natural one — but I do love having a space to share stories and images, to stay tech-savvy, and to create something that’s mine.

And that brings me here: back to coffee, back to reflection. I’ve been thinking lately that I'd like to add more personal posts like this to the blog. In a world where AI can do a lot of things, your own voice and experience still matter — or at least I hope so. Whether or not Google agrees is another story (they say posts like this don’t “solve a problem” or “meet a need”) — but here I am anyway.

If you’re interested in the real-life side of having a second home abroad — the routines, the decorating mishaps, the quiet joy of ordinary days far from ordinary places — I’d love to have you along. You can subscribe to the blog [here] — I promise no spam, just a quick heads-up when I post something new (which you’re always free to ignore).

So now I’ll finish my coffee, grab my camera, and head off for another walk through the streets of Beldibi. R.E.M. in my ears, sun on my face, and thoughts already drifting to home — and to my next trip, this time to Scandinavia.

If you have any questions about my experiances of owning a second home abroad or living (part time) in Turkey please add in the comments.