Feel Alive in Turkey

You wake before sunrise and step outside into that soft, in‑between blue. The air is cool but not cold, the cobblestones slick with dew, and everything feels quiet and still.

Then, slowly, the balloons start to rise, burners whooshing and canvas shivering in the dawn.

First one lifts, then three more, then dozens, drifting like lanterns over the fairy chimneys. Pink, gold, and striped, all glowing in the early light.

You stand there with a group of women who were strangers just days ago, ponytails crooked, faces bare, jackets thrown over pajamas. One of you is still half asleep, and another is already filming and whispering, “This is insane.”

And then it hits you.

It is not just the balloons. It is that you are watching them together.

Turkey does this to people. One minute you are weaving through the Grand Bazaar, bargaining over a scarf you truly do not need, past pyramids of saffron and copper coffee pots that smell faintly of cardamom. The next you are on a rooftop above the Bosphorus, ferry horns lowing and tea glasses clinking, passing meze plates back and forth while you finally name the thing you have carried for years but never said out loud.

This stays quiet rather than high drama. And something in your chest loosens.

Maybe it is the call to prayer unfurling across minarets and alleys. Maybe it is the way light skims the stone houses carved straight into the cliffs. Maybe it is simply being away from home, off your usual routine, off the role you always play.

You are just fully here.

And when you land somewhere new, you show up a little differently.

You laugh a little louder. You admit things faster.

I have watched it happen over and over again in Turkey. Women arrive excited but guarded, shoulders tight from airports and inboxes. By the time we are sharing a women‑only cooking class in someone’s home, or clinking glasses on a rooftop terrace at sunset, the energy shifts. Conversations deepen and wander between courses. The walls soften and slip right down.

The place is beautiful, obviously. But what makes it unforgettable is what happens between women when they share something new together.

That is what we design for. Not just the hot air balloons. Not just the hilltop cottages. Not just the spice markets and turquoise water.

But the moment you look around and realize, “I almost didn’t book this.”

And you are so damn glad you did.

We are heading back to Turkey this year, floating above Cappadocia, wandering ancient streets, cooking and laughing, and staying in the kind of hilltop cottages that make you forget which day it is.

If you have been craving something that feels bigger than another dinner reservation or weekend at home, this might be your nudge.

Come see what shifts when you change the backdrop.

xoxo,
Amanda
Founder of The Solo Female Traveler Network

Turkey Dates
May 17 - 28, 2026
October 4 - 15, 2026