Although we haven’t met personally until this interview, which makes you say “Oh, it’s written here too” when you open a magazine, newspaper or a new website. Hazal Yılmaz is a person whose advice I consider “as if a close friend suggested it” before I go or try a new place.. Even though most of us know him as a “Traveller”, in my eyes he is a “Write a lot” and I think it’s really amazing that he is so active.. Moreover, he is both entertaining, has a lot to say and tells, and he is a true detection person.. We talked to him about the Many Travellers Club, hazalyilmaz.com, Istanbul and some cities, he should read it to you.
Travel and life in Turkey in particular You are one of the first names that come to mind when you think of your bloggers.. We, as Oi the Blog, have been following you for a long time.. So how did you start? Did you say, ‘Let me have some salt in the soup’, or did you need a personal space for yourself?
I was an advertiser. When I couldn’t go to concerts, read books or visit exhibitions, I said enough is enough.. I resigned. It was May 2009. I already had a blog that I wrote, but it was more about literature.. I changed its type, decorated it, moved it under hazalyilmaz.com. I started to write about Istanbul life, briefly myself.. It started as a guide for people like me who don’t have time for anything.. 5 years passed. My excitement for discovery is not over.
When we open a magazine, newspaper or website, you can come across as a surprise.. Can you summarize the places you are actively writing for us right now? (We’re trying to make it easier to follow)
You’re so cute. Let me give you the list then:
Print Media: Hürriyet Seyahat, Pegasus Magazine, Istanbul Life, Vodafone Freezone, Base Post.
Online: My own blog http ://hazalyilmaz.com/anlamarama/; Many Travellers Club http://www.cokgezenlerkulubu.com; Miles & Miles Magazine, http://www.garanti.com.tr/tr/personal/ozel_bankacilik/ozel_bankacilik_urunleri/masters_online_magazine.page.
Twitter & instagram @anlamarama
How did the Many Travellers Club start? How did this project turn into a collaboration with Pegasus?
The project started because of my dreams of traveling the world.. To do this, I needed a young, dynamic, visionary partner.. I first presented it to Pegasus, we started a month later.. When I first told about the project, it was not named.. Like Tolstoy, I woke up from a dream one night and made a note in the bedside book.. Two days later, I sent his name to the registry as the Many Travellers Club.
There are many names in the club, from famous figures to successful bloggers from the field.. How did this team come together? Do you have certain criteria to join the club or do you say ‘come whatever you are’?
The criteria for being here are:
1) Being very curious
2) Walking (at least) 20 km a day, with your camera on your shoulder and your notebook in hand. Because we believe that it is impossible to explore a city without walking on its streets.
3) Making travel a business, not a vacation.
4). Not being able to stop writing.
Anyone who says I have these four criteria should send an e-mail to [email protected]. The team changes in every city we visit, because adding other visions inspires both the work we do and each other.
How do you determine the cities you will go to, especially as a group, and how do you create a budget?
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I, as the Many Travellers Club, make an agreement with Pegasus and offer a certain per diem to everyone who comes after them.. The rest is purely personal taste.. Did you stay in a hostel, home or hotel?. Did you go to the ballet, concert or dance?. The only important point is to be at work at 08:30 in the morning.. Since we have three or four days, we don’t have a minute to waste.
You had the opportunity to visit many different cities.. Which city do you like the most? Can you give us a few clues about that place?
Instead, I’ll give you the address of the two best bloody marry’s I’ve ever smoked in the world.
1) Berlin – White Trash. It’s like a tree, not a celery stalk.
2) London – The Dove. They make a special blend with Guinness.
What was the weirdest thing that happened to you abroad?
Many times I went to meet a friend in Prague and found myself in Amsterdam, bought a ticket to Paris for a week and returned two months later.. That’s why I couldn’t choose the weirdest one =)
We see that he actively follows the places in Istanbul from his articles.. Are you one of those who say, ‘Istanbul is separate for me wherever I go in the world’?
I’m one of those people who mostly have a love-hate relationship with Istanbul.. I think this city has a lot of potential but we don’t use it enough.. I run away from Istanbul when I get bored, I take a tour by the Bosphorus when I miss it.. I have told business and hoteliers a lot: “Fred Nikolay worked wonders in Brussels” or “I went to a place called Frank’s in Buenos Aires and I was in the 1930s.” Where do you go, which places do you prefer?
Every morning at House Café Corner; Coffee 6 or Canteen for lunch, New Restaurant in the evening, Babylon for dancing in the night, Kiki are my favourites.. And these days, I’m obsessed with the cosmopolitan life of Kadıköy-Moda.
Briefly in Brief
The city that ‘wouldn’t have come’: The city that ‘wouldn’t come if I didn’t come, I’d change it to not going if I didn’t have to again, and answer Zurich
The city that ‘why wasn’t I born here’:
I also use the right to make changes in time. New York of the 1970s.
The city with the most fun nightlife: Berlin, where galleries turn into bars, great cocktails are served behind green doors, and everyone dances 24/7.
The city most likely to be obese: Tapas, chorizo, patatas bravas, manchego, cavas eight meals a day, if you let go. Of course Barcelona.
Friendly city: I guess because it’s cosmopolitan. i will say london. No, it could be in Amsterdam. Have you met the locals, everyone is friendly to me.
The first 3 words that come to mind when you think of Istanbul: Tides, clouds, ferryboats. (I walked in Caddebostan today, maybe that’s why)
Your favorite raki fish place in Istanbul: The first of December, the Tavern in Kadıköy. You pay 80 TL for two people, including acorns.. No joke.
Your favorite place to drink coffee in Istanbul: Coffee tastes good in Bebek, Cup of Joy. If you ask as a place, Karaköy, Karabatak.
The place where you say you won’t come back when the night comes in Istanbul: Aztec on the European side, Zeplin on the Anatolian side. Of course, there are eight or ten different places to visit before you get there.
